Life Among the Dead OC Story
by LupusAvius
Summary: Z-Day has begun. The world is at an end, but there is hope. Six teens are trying to survive the world, but they will soon realize that they are not alone, that there are many others out there, striving to be the Life Among the Dead, no matter the cost.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One Dawn of the Dead**

A lone man walked down the seemingly empty his street. His silver hair flowed from the tip of his down to the bottom of his neck. His red eyes pierced straight ahead with a look of utter determination. His gait was solid, without imperfection. Step after step he walked toward the one building he despised so much; school.

Everyday would begin off the same for him. He would take his father's trench coat from the terrace of his room and, after having a small breakfast, would head out the door extremely quickly. He would never try and "do" anything with his silver hair, or try and wash his face, but he would walk straight out the front door with a set pace, to arrive to the school building early, in case of any mishaps on the way. His silver hair would normally cause the people on the street to disperse, or hide away in their homes, until the strange man passed. He, of course, had a friend, just like so many others due to the same qualities, and reasons for a dispersed neighborhood, who he could talk to without much challenge, but was still always cautious around him.

The man was called Sicarius Nox. His parents were Latin Scholars, or so he's been told, and named him after one of the Latin meanings they had found. They wanted their son to have that air of mystery that could surround him, but still be able to make friends. Now, though, they'd probably be revolted at what they saw. He lived up to his name, for six years to be exact before he quit doing what he had always done.

The school had come in sight quickly, and even faster did Sicarius arrive at the building itself. Sicarius was normally one of the first to arrive, even before most teachers would arrive, which meant, he normally had an hour to himself, which also normally meant he was down at the clubroom, sharpening his skill with a blade. He has tried to put down his sword once, but still couldn't find the strength in himself to finally lay down his killing tool.

Sicarius headed toward the Kendo Clubroom to practice some more, and sharpen his skills once more. He had the way memorized to the clubroom, where the Kendo was actually performed. His mind wandered to the windows as he watched the outside of the building.

_Still no people, _He thought. By now, more teachers should be arriving, and coming in to their classes, and prepare themselves for the rest of the day, that would soon unfold, but no such teachers came in like normal. Only one or two at a time would come waddling into the building, their folders out, and their glasses on. It was accustomed for Sicarius to feel proud of these people. Many of them had shown him true courage, but many others change, and mangle with, their personal statuses that they had taken so much time to actually upgrade to where they were now.

Sicarius soon wandered upon the clubroom, and silently, but quickly, retrieved a wooden katana from the barrel in the storage room of the clubroom. Sicarius had taken a sturdy one, that wouldn't break under the ruthless swings that the silver haired man would put it through. He walked swiftly up to a practice dummy to the side of the room. This dummy had been put through much of Sicarius' torment, and was probably accustomed to the regular beating that it received.

Sicarius soon got into his ready position. His knees bent slightly, and his body was turned about ninety degrees to the left. His left arm was gripping where the sheath of the wooden katana would be, and his right, the hilt of the katana was held firmly in the hand.

Sicarius swung the blade, in a horizontal half circle. The blade slammed into the dummy at full force causing the dummy to violently shake, but the silver haired man was not done. With a quick shift of his wrist, the blade came back, this time from the other side, and struck the dummy right below the rib cage. Sicarius flicked his wrist again, but this brought in a vertical attack right on top of the dummy's right shoulder. The dummy shook violently again. If this was a real person, he would on his ass right now, if not dead. Sicarius took a deep breath, bowing as we did so. He straightened his back once more, before returning the wooden katana back to the storage room.

He turned on his heel, and left the clubroom, almost immediately after setting the katana up against a wall. He wandered past a couple of windows that overlooked the tennis courts and saw a couple of females practicing down there. They seemed as if they didn't notice the man as he observed silently. One stood out above the rest as her brown hair circled around her to take a look at the window that Sicarius once stood, but he had already moved on. His destination was the roof.

It was a calming place for him. He'd sit there and watch the clouds as they passed by, or sleep. Sicarius had always found the darkness, or the night, brought him more peace than the light itself. He was never around during the school, only the first day did he actually stay in the classroom, but after that he soon left the classroom to spend his days up here.

He soon found the very familiar steps that led to the roof of the building. His mind wandered the different assets of the staircase. It was a squared off staircase, meaning that there was about five square yards of space before ascending the next flight of stairs. Sicarius was able to figure out these miniscule details quickly and caused quite and uproar when the other students found out about his perceptive skills.

When he arrived at the top of the building, he opened the door and looked out upon the expansive roof. It was mostly a bare landscape, with a fence lining the perimeter of the roof, just in case any man, or woman, who had it rough decided to stop it then and there, but now Sicarius was up there, and he normally scares people away from the roof. The most out of place objet on the roof was a small warehouse. Sicarius has been in it before, climbing through the nearest window, but all he found was leftover fire axes and team equipment, which didn't have any interest to the man at the time he first discovered it.

He had no intention of entering the warehouse this time around; instead, he simply sat down, his back rested against the solid wall and calmed down. His eyes closed softly, and he listened to the low chill of the wind. He could never sleep well, but having his sleep was necessary, whether it was good or bad. He felt his thoughts drift away from him as he slowly fell into the darkness within him.

….Little did he know, he would wake up in hell.

.

**Introductory chapter **

**End**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1 Dawn of the Dead**

Sicarius woke to a violent scream. The scream pierced the air, and sounded very brittle, like a person was being killed. Sicarius would know what this sounds like for his own reasons, but, even so, he shot to his feet and looked around. There was another scream, but this time, now that Sicarius was up and moving, Sicarius knew the direction in which the violent scream had occurred, and that was the front gate. He ran up to the fence, persistent to look out beyond the large gray fence that surrounded the perimeter. His normally distant red eyes were now filled with worry, and he began to scan the ground beneath the building. He soon found what he was looking on the floor.

There were three teachers outside the building. All of which seemed to be the gym instructors due to the athletic build each of them had. They were dressed up in their school uniforms, a simple short and t-shirt combo, supporting our high school's team's colors. One male, and one female, instructor were looking between the third instructor and a man on the outside of the gate. The man on the outside of the gate wore casual clothes, but seemed extremely drunk as he kept walking into the gate, as if he couldn't feel it. The third person lay on the floor, clutching his arm. He was uniform was tarnished by deep red, crimson, liquid; blood. The man withered on the floor and struggled with his arm. Another loud scream of agony and the man stopped moving. He remained still; dead.

"What the hell?" Sicarius backed away from the fence, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the grotesque scene. The third teacher lay dead, in a pool of his own blood. The female teacher bent over him, as if she didn't know that he had died. She seemed to say something, but what she said was out of earshot of Sicarius. He watched the scene more intently now. The man that was lying dead now twitched. He was alive. Sicarius felt a very large pressure life off his shoulders, but that changed almost instantly.

The man had reached up and grabbed the teacher, very inappropriately. His hand pulled her shirt down about half way as he pulled himself up. The teacher was too stunned to do anything as the man pulled her shirt half way down and climb up her body, but that wasn't what got Sicarius. When the man's face had reached her neck, he bit down on her. She screamed extremely loud as the man's teeth sank into her flesh. Sicarius winced. Sicarius did the only logical thing he could at the spur of the moment. He ran.

Sicarius turned and ran from across the roof. He reached the door leading to the stairs away from the roof and threw it open. Sicarius ran down the steps, skipping two at a time. His mind was filled with the events from only seconds before. He jumped the last flight of stairs, and ran through the door into the main hallway. Sicarius ran through the hallway. Window after window, door after door, passed him up quickly, and Sicarius paid barely any heed to the blurry details as he ran even faster toward an unknown destination. He was running to fast, that he never even realized that somebody else was in his way until he had barreled into them and landed on the ground with a large crash.

"Sicarius?" His bewildered friend, Arashi Kitsuneo, questioned aloud, "Hey. What's with the frantic dash from the roof?" Arashi continued to question, "I was just about to bring some lunch up to you on the roof."

Sicarius looked back outside the nearest window. He was on the first floor now, so the ground was now on the same level of the ground that he was on. All three of the instructors seem to have had the same fate as they were all bloody and shuffling toward the school. Arashi soon noticed where Sicarius' distress was coming from and also looked out the large window. There were two trees on the others side, both extremely close to the building. The three of _them_ were shuffling toward the school building.

"What the—?" Arashi was at a loss for words. That was until, Mr. Hanosuka, the vice principal, had walked out of the school, toward the three bloody instructors. He wore a tux, like any professional business people wear, and dress pants and shoes, some very expensive clothes. Sicarius doesn't know what was going through the vice principal's head. If they are bloody, stay away. Its common sense, but it seemed as if Mr. Hanosuka didn't have any of that.

It seemed as if Mr. Hanosuka had come out to receive the outcome of what had become of the man outside of the gate. Sicarius knew what was coming, and the moment Mr. Hanosuka got to close, one of the three teachers had lunged out and latched onto Mr. Hanosuka. Soon enough all three of the teachers began to eat the poor Vice Principal alive. Sicarius cringed away from the gruesome scene, as did his friend. His friend, though afraid of the situation, was the first to speak.

"What was that?" He asked. Sicarius shrugged, but proceeded to tell his friend what he has gathered, information wise. Arashi listened intently, obviously already over his little phase, and was prepared for the worst to come. After Arashi had listened to everything Sicarius had to say he spoke once again.

"Sicarius; we need to escape, but let's try and save as many as we can in our escape," Sicarius nodded, and was about to agree, but stopped.

"How in the hell, are you planning to escape this?" Sicarius asked the obvious question. Arashi opened his mouth to speak, but paused.

"…..I'll figure it out when I get there," Arashi stated.

"You mean you haven't thought this through?" Sicarius asked seriously. Arashi glared at him

"I've only known this has been going on for five minutes. Give me a break," Arashi complained. He looked back outside and instantly backed up. Mr. Hanosuka was standing there directly outside the window. His face was a kind of black and his eyes were rolled into the back of his head. He looked… brainless.

Sicarius and Arashi took off down the hall as the now brainless Mr. Hanosuka came busting through the glass.

"Now Sicarius," Arashi said breathlessly as they ran through the hall, "He's hungry, and mad because we were caught out of class," He laughed a little, but Sicarius shook his head. The two ran through the hallway until they felt safe and stopped around a corner.

"We need weapons," Sicarius stated rather obviously, "And more people."

"Of course we do," Arashi stated. Arashi paused for a second trying to think up a plan as quick as possible.

_I got to admit. He's somehow kept his cool. _Sicarius thought. _It'll be a wonder to see what he comes up with._

"I got nothing," Arashi stated. Sicarius deadpanned.

"You're kidding," Sicarius questioned. Arashi shook his head, "Alright," Sicarius began. He began to formulate an idea through his head, "Alright. Arashi go gather all the people you can and bring them up to the roof, try getting them to gather weapons as well. I'm going down to the Kendo Clubroom to get a sword," Arashi nodded, knowing he couldn't change Sicarius's mind and they both soon parted running off in their designated directions.

Sicarius ran through the halls and by the time he reached the clubroom the intercom turned on.

"This is your principal speaking," Sicarius heard, "Students please follow your teachers and staff out of the building. This is an evacuation. I repeat—," There was a pause, then a loud crash, "No get away from me! Mr. Hanosuka get away!" The principal sounded scared and more crashing could be heard, "No! Arghhhhh!"

There was a dead silence that filled the halls of the school. Sicarius knew what was going to happen; his keen sense of hearing had picked up the tiny screams that began to echo throughout the building. Sicarius had dashed through the building trying to reach the Kendo Clubroom before he was ran over by the inevitable mob that would without a doubt come penetrating through the hall, without mercy to anybody in their way. Sicarius was right. The moment he was out of the main hallway, kids flooded through like a stampede. Sicarius sighed and ran through the rest of the halls toward the kendo clubroom.

He arrived quickly, and wasted no time in heading over to the storage room to pick himself out a wooden katana. The door to the storage room was open, and Sicarius wasn't about to wait around for Mr. Hijo, the Kendo Clubroom master, to show up, so he barged right into the storage room and grabbed a katana. The katana was wooden, of course, because real weapons weren't allowed to be carried around during school. Sicarius had taken his weapon and turned around to leave, but came face-to-face with a bitten Mr. Hijo. Sicarius breathed in deeply. Mr. Hijo's face was pale, just like Mr. Hanosuka's, but his bite mark was on his right cheek. Mr. Hijo's mouth hung open, and at an awkward tilt, due to the fact that half of his jaw was gone. Sicarius ducked away, and stood on the other side of the teacher.

"Mr. Hijo," Sicarius started. Mr. Hijo didn't seem to react to his voice, so Sicarius spoke up, "Mr. Hijo? You'll be okay."

Mr. Hijo's face turned to stare down Sicarius. Sicarius only had a second's reaction before Mr. Hijo charged. Sicarius sidestepped his attack, not wanting to pummeling the man yet, "Mr. Hijo," The man's face turned and looked at him again, but this times Sicarius knew he was one of _them _now and he couldn't hold back any longer. Mr. Hijo charged again, but this Sicarius struck out and slammed the wooden sword into Mr. Hijo's side causing him to flail to the opposite side of the blade.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hijo," Sicarius sincerely apologized, "There was no other way."

Sicarius went to turn around and leave, but was stopped as the body of Mr. Hijo stood back up.

"You're kidding," he said unbelievably. Sicarius took an aggressive stand with the wooden katana and, the moment Mr. Hijo stood up, Sicarius had landed a powerful blow to man's head, killing him instantly, and getting his sword a little dirty in the process.

"You better be dead," Sicarius commanded to the lifeless body as he inspected it, "A strike to the head is what kills you eh?" Sicarius ran out of the room, in fear of encountering more of _them _because something had to infect him. As Sicarius ran out of the clubroom he heard a scream. It was feminine, and coming from he stares leading to the roof.

"Shit," Sicarius cursed loudly as he made a run for the stairs. Sicarius bolted up the stairs, hitting any of _them _out of the way as he went up. As he turned a corner one of _them_ came flying at him and he jumped back to avoid it. Its head hit the wall and blood splattered everywhere. That's when Sicarius looked up the steps and noticed people that weren't out to eat each other.

"Sicarius!" Arashi yelled down at his friend. Sicarius briefly nodded his way and climbed the rest of the stairs to his level, "Glad to see you alive Sicarius!" Sicarius nodded and looked at the rest of the people behind him.

There were three girls and another guy behind him.

"Is everybody here now?" A girl asked Arashi. Arashi looked towards Sicarius, who briefly nodded again.

"Have you lost your voice Sicarius?" Arashi questioned. Sicarius ignored his question and continued up the steps toward the roof. The rest of the group looked at each other, before following Sicarius up the steps.

The rest of the trip to the roof was quiet, with none of _them _appearing. When they arrived though, it was a different story. Sicarius decided entering the warehouse would be a terrible idea and decided to barricade everybody behind it.

"Sicarius?" Arashi questioned.

"What is it Arashi?" Sicarius asked.

"Introductions, Sicarius," Arashi paused, "Only I really know you because you never attend class and stuff, so I thought that maybe you needed to meet the others."

Sicarius sighed and looked at the rest of the group. The only other guy looked nervous and was carrying around two kitchen knives. He had dark green hair and a kind of blue-green eyes. He looked fairly strong, but there was something off about him.

"You there," The man jumped a little, "What's your name?"

"Uh.. Danny Palmer," Danny stated, "I'm from class 3-A," Sicarius nodded. He continued with his questions.

"Can you use those?" Sicarius asked, referring to his knives.

"Of course," Danny responded, "They're um sharp and easy to swing," Sicarius rolled his eyes. He then looked to a girl.

She had short black hair and light blue eyes. He didn't much attention to much else only noticed she had a lean figure and medium sized breasts, "Your name?" He asked her.

"Alexis Carter," She stated bluntly, unlike Danny from before, "Class 3-B."

"And the knife?" Sicarius asked, "How does it fare against _them_?"  
>"The brainless things?" Alexis asked, confused on what <em>them <em>was referring to, "I don't know... I haven't tried," Sicarius sighed, but still moved on to the next girl.

The next girl was on the smaller side with black hair that ended near her back and has blue eyes. She wore the gym uniform, so she probably ran into Arashi on the way from running escaping _them_. Her breasts were medium as well and she seemed athletic. Sicarius had to question her choice in weaponry because she was carrying a tennis racket.

"And you are?" Sicarius asked.

"Masako Tanuma," She stated, "Class 3-D. I'm in the class you're suppose to be in Sicarius," She scolded. Sicarius just nodded and continued with the questioning.

"Explain to me why you carry a tennis racket?" Sicarius asked, "I mean wouldn't that break?" Masako obviously had to think about her answer to this.

"Well I had tennis for gym, and we were caught off guard…" Sicarius nodded and broke open a window into the warehouse.

"Hey! Sicarius!" Arashi called out as his friend climbed through the window. The group her ruffling as Sicarius searched through the warehouse. When he climbed back out of the window he was carrying weapons with him.

"Here," He gave a fire axe to Masako. She took it awkwardly.

"Um okay."

Sicarius then looked to the final person in their small group. She was smaller than Masako, but not by much and she had long brown hair tied up in a ponytail and had brown eyes. She also had medium sized breasts and a lean figure as well.

"Where's your weapon," Sicarius asked her.

"I don't have one," She replied, "My pencil broke," Sicarius deadpanned, then gave her a hockey stick. She took it graciously, happy that she had something sturdier than a pencil in her hand.

"What is your name?" He asked her.

"Hikari Kinomoto," She responded, "I'm in Class 1-A."

_A freshman?_ Sicarius thought. Sicarius broke out of his train of thought.

"We'll sit here til things calm down," Sicarius stated. Everybody seemed to nod in agreement and Sicarius sat down and sighed.

_Today has gone from hectic because of school to hectic because of "Shit things are trying to eat me." We'll have to escape. Staying here won't help us. Let's just hope we can escape._

"Sicarius," Arashi broke Sicarius from his train of thought, "There's a bus up front. In the parking lot that is our escape."

Sicarius nodded, "Alright who knows how to hotwire a car?" Everybody looked at him like he was crazy.

_This will be fun._

**DAWN OF THE DEAD **

**End**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2 Allies Among the Dead**

Sicarius was quiet about the entire time the group waited to run-off toward the bus. He was thinking on what he was planning to do once he got to the bus. Nobody knew how to hotwire a car, so how was he expected to get them out of this mess without a movable vehicle. It's not like they could push the bus. They'd be dead instantly. Sicarius rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Sicarius is it?" Masako had decided to strike up conversation with Sicarius. Sicarius, being himself, just nodded. She stayed quiet for a second obviously thinking of something to say, "Nice coat?" She seemed to question her own question and seemed to regret asking the question, so Sicarius spoke.

"Thank you," Sicarius said, "It was giving to me from my dad."

She looked genuinely happy with this answer and sat next to Sicarius. It was silent for a while and Sicarius felt a bit awkward. He had never sat this to close to someone before, and was immediately blown away by how fast this had come on.

He sat frozen, but relaxed, ready to run away at the correct moment, too bad that moment never came. A low moaning sound could be heard behind the barricade they had built. Sicarius motioned for the group to stand and get ready. They did so immediately.

Sicarius moved quickly, but silently to one end of the barricade. He held his wooden sword across his body, in case he needed to get out a quick attack. Sicarius looked at the rest of the group, they nodded.

Sicarius had thought ahead and had one piece holding up the entire barricade. Sicarius kicked that piece away from the barricade and pushed it forward, crushing _them _beneath it. Sicarius took only a second to bask in the glory of his work before taking off toward the stairs with the rest of the group. Sicarius swung his sword horizontally as he ran to throw one of _them _to the side. The moment his shoulder was down, Arashi had made a thrust over his left shoulder, impaling another one of _them_ with what looked like a broken broom stick. Both kept running toward the stairs. Although they had taken the swing at, and connected with, _them, _they continued to run forward without losing their momentum.

The group dashed, slashed, pushed and punched their way through the countless number of infected beasts that stood in their way. Sicarius swung his sword horizontally and smashed one of _them_ on the head, sending _it _to the side. He kept running though. His momentum never slowed and he still led the small group across the roof.

As they neared the exit, Sicarius had slowed. The group's slower companion, Hikari Kinomoto, was behind the group by quite a distance. Sicarius knew she could hold her own against all of _them_ that were up here, but they didn't have time to wait. Sicarius had dropped back to her pace, and helped her along by first taking out one of _them_ on her right with a quick strike to the head.

Hikari sped up, without the disturbances of _them_ lunging out at her, and had reached the entrance to the stairs leading away from the roof. She turned her body sideways.

"Sicarius!" She yelled out. Sicarius took this opportunity to kick back the nearest one of _them_, and make a mad dash for the entrance. Sicarius could feel _their_ breath against him as wove as his wave through them toward the entrance. Just as Sicarius saw the opening through _them,_ and took off toward that direction, but the moment he ran in that direction, one of _them _stood within his opening.

Sicarius's eyes widened and he immediately dove to the side to avoid the incoming lunge. Sicarius rolled to his feet, gripping his wooden katana like losing that weapon would be the end of him, and evidently it would be. Sicarius stood up and evaded yet another lunge. There seemed to be an endless number of _them_.

_I can't evade forever, _Sicarius thought as he sidestepped another, and bashed his previous attacker on the head, _I'm going to die here. Is this the end?_ Sicarius blinked, but it seemed he closed his eyes longer than he had thought he would.

Memories. Ideas. It all came rushing back to him. The lives he's stolen. The people he's erased from this world. There smiling faces came back to him.

_That's right. _Sicarius thought to himself, _I can't die here. I made a promise, _A woman flashed through Sicarius's head. Her hair was brown and ended halfway down her back. Her eyes were a deep chocolate. She always had the same smile plastered on her face, as she did now, a genuine smile.

"_Live for me. Alright?" _He could almost here her sweet and calming voice and he opened his eyes slowly to see one of _them _staring him in the face.

"Sicarius!" He heard a yell, and then a bo staff took out the one in front of him. Arashi was now staring him in the face, "We got to keep moving!" He yelled. Sicarius blinked a couple of times, trying to register what happened, "Sicarius!"

With that last yell, Sicarius was back to the real world and found Arashi holding his staff up defensively standing in front of him. Sicarius immediately whispered something to Arashi, and he nodded.

"Let's do it Sicarius!" Arashi yelled. Sicarius ran through the group of them, followed immediately by Arashi. Bodies were falling left and right as the two men swept their way through the group of _them_.

Sicarius smiled, for once in his life. He felt elated. He knew why he felt happy, and it wasn't because of the amount of bodies on the floor around him. He will keep his promise to her. He will live no matter what.

_Thank you, _He thought, he turned to Arashi.

"Let's go Arashi!" Sicarius bolted down the steps towards the rest of the group. By the time he made it there the entire group had halted.

"You two are alright," Danny smiled and stated.

"You mean you left us?" Arashi harshly whispered. Danny jumped a little.

"Well we had to move on," Danny tried to explain, but Arashi wouldn't listen. And this simple argument soon turned into an escalation battle of wills, which will never end, so Sicarius decided to break them up.

"Hey!" He harshly whispered as well, "This is the Apocalypse! Stop arguing over the past. It's over," Sicarius commanded. Both guilty party members agreed silently. Sicarius went over to the girls and asked if they are alright. They all nodded, and Sicarius turned his attention to the hallway around the corner. Sicarius peered around the corner, and he regretted it almost immediately.

_They _were there, feeding on the living, or what was left of the living. Others were rehabilitating right there. They stood up and wandered around the hall without a sense of direction. One of _them_ walked out the nearest window. Sicarius just stared at that place for a while, before finally realizing that they were actually brainless.

"Alright any plans?" Sicarius asked as he turned his attention back to the group of men and women behind him. There was silence for a while and Sicarius waited patiently. At last, Alexis decided to speak up.

"The teacher lounge might be open," Alexis offered. Sicarius thought about this for a second, "Well if it is, there's no guarantee that we won't run into _them_ we get there."

"Alright if we have no objections," Sicarius paused, waiting for any, if there were any, objections, "Then let's go, but quietly."

Everybody agreed silently, and Alexis led the way. Sicarius stayed in the back with Masako, while Danny took the spot next to Hikari. Arashi stayed behind Sicarius. They all moved with their weapons up in a defensive posture.

Sicarius noticed, as they moved, that none of _them_ had come after their group while they were silent.

_I'll be sure to relay the message, _Sicarius mentally noted as they moved down the less than crowded hall.

The feeding made Sicarius sick to the stomach as he passed the scene. The sickening crunch when teeth met bone or teeth took a bite into flesh. It took every ounce of will power Sicarius had to not lose his lunch right there. Then again, he didn't have lunch….

After they passed the scene, the group's pace quickened as they followed Alexis toward the teacher's lounge. Alexis obviously knew her way around, because, within moments, she had led the group to the small building on the outside of the school. The building was situated so the bottom of the building did not touch the ground, but was kept outside and was connected by bridges. Alexis tried the lock.

"It's locked," Alexis stated, rather disappointingly. Sicarius took a quick look around. None of _them_ were around.

"Who's there?" A feminine voice could be heard on the other side of the door. Alexis bolted to the door.

"I'm Alexis Carter of class 3-B," She stated defiantly.

"You're not one of them, are you?" The voice asked sheepishly.

"No, we aren't," Alexis paused, "We are looking for a place to sit around for a while."

Sicarius could here somebody fumbling with lock as whoever on the other side tried opening it. Eventually she opened it, and Sicarius was surprised at what he found. Everybody shuffled inside and the door was shut and locked quickly.

"I'm Sabrina Garnet Williams," She then pointed at a man in the corner.

"And I'm Chris Richards…."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3 Escape from the Dead**

"I'm Chris Richards…" The man stood up from where he was sitting. The television was running so Sicarius assumed the man was watching it, "And yours?" Sicarius found the man staring at the group. Danny was the first to speak up.

"I'm Danny Palmer," Danny started, "From—"

"There is no need to tell each other what class we are from," Chris interrupted. Danny nodded, and continued.

"That's Hikari Kinomoto," Hikari stood at the back of the group next to Sabrina. It seemed as if they were carrying out a conversation when Hikari heard her name, because she looked up, clueless to why her name was said, "That's Masako Tanuma." Masako was staring up at the television. She had seemed to do the same Sicarius did when she entered the building, look at the television, "That's Alexis," Alexis raised her hand in greeting and Chris nodded in response, "That's Arashi and Sicarius."

"Arashi and Sicarius, the two silver hairs," Chris stated casually. Both of the mentioned men looked at him. Chris caught their eye and looked extremely uncomfortable. Sicarius's red eyes were piercing him. He felt like Sicarius was searching his soul.

"I was just acknowledging the fact," Chris hurried out the last part. Sicarius stared at him for a second more before turning back to the television at Masako's request.

A news reporter was standing there giving her report in front of a couple of police men and ambulances _"This is Marcie Jill of the National Channel Three News Report. A pandemic has spread out. We have very little information pertaining to this topic. The world is in Red Alert. People everywhere are dropping dead and coming back to life. Those that are alive believe this is some biological weapon, mass produced, by Russians."_

"The Russians?" Masako questioned to no one in particular.

_"We have no other leads to follow. We—" _Just then bodies were beginning to rise from the ambulances, _"What the?" _The cops near the ambulances shot all the rising corpses with what looked like pistols. The news reporter seemed shocked, but continued her report a little shakily.

_"The police have resorted to violence to solve the problem. This is Channel Three News saying, stay in doors unless it's an absolute emergency. This problem will be solv— No! Stay back!" _The camera was obviously dropped as it was showing a ground view. The group standing in front of the television could here the women's screams before the main channel broke off connection with the camera. The people in the studio acted as if nothing had happened, and that sickened Sicarius.

Sicarius looked out the nearest window as the news reporter went on and on about the "Z-Day Pandemic." The man never gave respect to his fallen comrades and that bugged Sicarius a little. Even he gave respect to those who died, whether friend or foe, but these people disregarded there friends and co-workers as trash. It was a little ironic how Sicarius was scolding them in his mind though.

Sicarius soon concentrated on looking for a way out, out of the window. He found that there wasn't as many of _them _in the courtyard as they were inside the building. Sicarius knew there were more, but they were more spaced out.

"They were close," A female's voice was heard next to Sicarius, "They were probably trying to escape through the front exit," Masako explained. Sicarius nodded briefly.

"They were," Chris agreed from behind the pair, "While most of the school ran for the front gate, Sabrina and I barricaded ourselves in here. This was the outcome of our choices. Notice who's still alive."

Sicarius looked back outside and toward the ground. A group of students had run out of the school. There were two males and a female. The males looked as if they were on the football team, as they were wearing jerseys. One was using a frying pan from obviously home-ec. The moment the frying pan collided with one of _them, _all of _them_ around the courtyard began to shuffle _their _way toward the sound.

"That's right," Sicarius thought, "_They_ are attracted to sound."  
>Sicarius's previous idea of them being attracted to sound was what had just been proven by the loud sound that came from the connection with the frying pan. Sicarius watched as the three were soon surrounded by <em>them<em>.

"We have to help them!" Hikari yelled as she ran to the door. Sicarius stopped her by a fierce grip around her arm.

"What will we do?" Sicarius asked calmly, "Do you wish for us to go play hero. The outcome would be the same," Sicarius explained. Sicarius began to hear the screams of the three people behind him. Sicarius winced a little as if he could feel the pain of the teeth being dug into the three people on the ground.

Alexis also winced at the screams from the outside. She studied medicine, but she knew there was no amount of medicine that could save these people. Suddenly there was a loud pounding on the door leading in, and out, of the lounge. Danny jumped ever so slightly and walked to the door.

"Who is it?" He questioned in a sing-song voice. A loud moaning voice could be heard on the other side. Danny stood there for a second, staring at the door, before turning around and talking to the group behind him, "I do not understand that advanced language," He joked to his friends. Most of them rolled their eyes to the man's corny joke.

"Well," Arashi responded lifting up his broom stick, "Who wants to go first."

"Allow me," Chris said as he picked up the sledgehammer in the corner of the room, next to the chair he sat in earlier. His arms gripped the sledgehammer as he walked up to the door. He pointed at Sicarius and Arashi, "You too look quick. When I bust down the door, run out and fight."

Sicarius nodded briefly, as did Arashi. They gripped their respective weapons and waited for the man to beat down the wall.

"I have to time this correctly. If I don't the door will cave in on us instead of going out there," Chris explained. Immediately after, he slammed his hammer into the middle of the door, causing the hinges to snap and the door to move forward ever so slightly, but the moment the door lurched forward, it was soon beginning to cave back in. Sicarius threw himself against the door, using his own body force to lift the door up. \

"Move Sicarius!" Chris yelled out as he brought his sledgehammer down into another full on swing. The metal hammer slammed into the door at full force the moment Sicarius moved away from the collision point. There was a loud sound and the door flew forward. Those that were behind were crushed and Sicarius ran out of the lounge and onto the thin bridge.

With a vertical swing to the nearest one of _them, _Sicarius had completed made it onto the bridge, and was quickly joined by Arashi, who pummeled the closest one with horizontal swing of his broom stick. The fighting included a lot of quick flashy moves that required little to no energy to perform, for those who knew how to conserve their energy as they fought that is.

Hikari soon joined the pair that was engaged in combat as she began taking _them_ out with her hockey stick. Most of her attacks were horizontal strikes to the head and she tired easily. She wasn't one who knew how to conserve her energy, but her attacks were brutal. Although she fought most of the girls stood in the back and watched as the trio took down one after one.

Masako might have been using an aggressive weapon, but the fire ax was almost completely useless in her hands. She was slow and the weapon was overbearing in her hands. She knew as well as everybody else in the group that if she would have tried to fight, she would have been more of a burden, then a help. Alexis felt the same way.

Her weapon, on the other hand, was fast and nimble. Her only problem would be the face that she had to be extremely close to kill _them_. Her weapon was a small pocket knife, but couldn't do much damage to one of _them_, unless she was extremely close. But that would endanger her and her comrades.

"Out of the way ladies," Chris yelled as he ran through the group of two to join in the fighting. Chris ran in and swung his sledgehammer in a horizontal arc, like a baseball bat, and collided with full force to one of _them's_ head. Danny followed Chris and stuck out with his dual kitchen knives. He struck one on the head and the other across the chest. The one that was struck across the chest was killed quickly by a horizontal swing to the head by Masako, who grinned sheepishly at her kill.

The fighting raged on like this until Danny began to tire.

"This is hopeless!" Danny yelled as he struck his twentieth number of _them_ across the head, killing it. Sicarius agreed with Danny silently and looked for away out of this mess. At last he found it. There was a fire escape about ten yards ahead from where they were fighting. Sicarius jumped onto the railing next to him and ran along it, avoiding those that were trying to grab at him and bite him, even going as far as swinging at the grabbing hands at certain points along the way.

Sicarius jumped off the side of the railing when he was about five yards from the fire escape. He rolled to his feet and jumped the rest of the way to the ground.

The rest of the group, who had not seen the fire escape, stared in disbelief. Sicarius had jumped off the railing. It was at least a thirty foot drop to the bottom. Masako, who thought she had heard a soft pat, looked over the railing to find Sicarius standing there, fine and well, with none of _them _near him yet. At this point, Sicarius was now looking back up the wall, toward Masako.

"Jump!" He yelled up to her.

"Are you crazy?" She yelled back. The thirty foot drop would kill her. How could she trust Sicarius, this complete stranger, to catch her? Chris who had overheard Sicarius's plan had silently, but cautiously, moved back toward where Masako was standing. Masako, who was still hesitant about jumping, got a motivational push from her comrade Chris. She tumbled over the rail and landed in Sicarius's arms, but was immediately set on her feet, because Sicarius was ready for the second person.

Alexis jumped next, and was caught by Sicarius. Arashi jumped next and used his staff to catch himself. As he rolled to his feet Hikari had jumped and landed on him, to his dismay. Sabrina jumped next, also landing on Arashi, who groaned disapprovingly beneath her, as she frantically stood back up.

"I'm sorry!" She yelled, a little too loudly. Now, every one of _them_ in the courtyard had begun to shuffle their way over to where the small group was standing.

"Hurry up!" Sicarius yelled up frantically. Danny and Chris immediately jumped from their positions on the bridge. They rolled to their feet safely and were ready to continue running the moment they reached the ground. Arashi stood up slowly; being in a little pain from being the landing mat for everybody had caused them a quite amount of pain, and caused him to feel that pain when he tried standing.

"Ready?" Sicarius asked quickly. He got a brief nod from everyone before the group took off running. The run was about a hundred and fifty yards to the bus, and Sicarius never slowed as he ran. He would swing and pummel anything that got in his way. Sicarius ran up to the bus, and the entire group entered it, save for Chris who continued running.

"Chris!" Sicarius yelled after him and went to chase him down, but was halted by a group of them and was immediately dragged into a fight for his own life.

"Me and you both know that somebody will have to attract _them_ for everybody to escape safely," Chris responded as he ran toward his bike. Sicarius went to argue his point, but was halted by a sudden gush of a window as Sabrina ran past him, toward Chris. Sicarius knew then that their minds were set and he had no hope of changing their minds.

"Goodluck," Sicarius whispered, as he kicked away an approaching flesh-eater, "Get the bus started already!" Sicarius yelled at Danny, who was sitting in the driver's seat at the time.

"I'm trying!" He yelled back, "It's not like I know how to hotwire—KEYS!"

Sicarius rolled his eyes as the bus roared to life behind him. With a couple more zombie killing, Sicarius had boarded the bus and they were ready to go.

"Wait!" A teacher yelled as he ran toward the bus with six other students following him. Sicarius didn't like him the moment he saw him, but couldn't leave him to die so he turned to Danny.

"Let them on," Sicarius commanded reluctantly. After the larger group had joined them on the bus Danny revved the engine. Just then a new sound pierced the sound. A motor bike had started up.

Chris and Sabrina came driving past the bus, heading off toward the back entrance of the school. Sicarius bowed his head to them as they passed, for he could do no other action. There was a long silence as everybody was probably mourning for their two comrades.

"Let's go," Sicarius whispered to Danny, before taking his seat next to Masako. Danny nodded and slammed his foot on the pedal. The bus lurched forward and begins to move quickly. _They _were crashing against the windshield and sides of the bus as the bus moved through _them_ toward the exit.

The moment they made it through the exit, along with the loud crash that accompanied the gates breaking and opening, came a feeling as if a huge pressure had been lifted off their shoulders. They had escaped. They were safe, for now.

They were out of that hellhole, but they have just thrown themselves into a hellhole much larger than the first..

**Escape from the Dead **

** End**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four Life Among the Dead**

Masako sat quietly, her hands in her lap as her mind wondered. She seemed like a school girl, completely oblivious of her surroundings. Her occasional shaking though, was enough to prove that Masako knew all two well of her surroundings. Z-Day had begun, and, for now, there was no way to escape it.

The rest of the group was responding close, if not exactly the same way as Masako.

The group was silent for the most part. Their eyes were concentrated on their laps, or the world outside of the small enclosed bus. The silence was unbearable for some, but for most it was frustrating. The only sound throughout the five mile radius was the small hum of vehicle's engine.

The awkward silence amongst the passengers spoke enough though. None of them wanted this to happen.

Who would of though? There were some who surely thought that this experience will be exciting and full of adventure. That was not what this was. People were being eaten alive, but instead of dying, came back from what would seem like death, and began eating what would be their friends and family.

Masako shook again. Her lack of coverage was stealing the warmth that she felt only a few hours ago. Her body seemed cold as she sat there, and she began to eye Sicarius trench coat with a powerful lust. Although this was the case for poor Masako, she was afraid to ask this almost complete stranger for his coat.

Masako wasn't technically cold. The warmth she felt from just seeing life everyday had just been sucked out of her, her school, her town, and her life had just been eaten by a giant pandemic that appeared out of know where. The world was fine at the beginning of the day. Now the sun is setting and it is in total chaos, but due to this her blood had gone cold. Masako shivered slightly.

Sicarius, who had been staring at the floor, just noticed Masako's shaking, and chose to ignore her as best he could. He wasn't a real chivalrous guy, and this action was proof. He continued to try and ignore her, but was stopped by a sudden feeling. Masako was staring at his back with a piercing gaze. Sicarius tried to ignore her some more, but found the gaze too much.

Masako tugged lightly on the sleeve of the man's coat. Sicarius had broken and turned around to face her. When he met her gaze, she looked to be giving him the must pathetic face she could muster. Sicarius frowned, but reluctantly took off his coat and handed it to the female.

Sicarius felt naked and awkward without his coat. For Sicarius it was a symbol he wore. A symbol that stood for his past, a past he would never have placed onto another.

Masako had immediately wrapped herself in the warm coat and cuddled into it. She shivered slightly as her body adjusted to the sudden heat that it was given. Sicarius eyed Masako curiously as she snuggled with the coat.

_Lucky coat, _Sicarius thought, then, realizing what he was thinking whispered, "Where the hell did that come from?" To no one in particular. Sicarius shook his head violently to rid himself of whatever thought he had come across during that five second period.

"What are we going to do now?" A kid questioned aloud from the back of the bus. His voice was void of any hope. Sicarius ignored him. He was not someone he cared about enough to answer, so he kept his mouth shut.

"We can look for our family—" Arashi began, but was interrupted by another kid.

"Call the police!" The kid said, "They'll know what we should do!"

Sicarius knew calling the police would get them nowhere. He also knew if he tried to tell them this, he'd get denied any say in the matter, so he kept quiet and listened intently as a phone rang from the back of the bus. After about six or so rings a voice could be heard coming from the phone, and it was exactly what Sicarius had expected.

"_We are sorry for this inconvenience," _The answering machine responded, "_We are experience an extremely high call volume at the moment."_

"No way," A kid responded bedazzled by the outcome of the call. Sicarius smirked. He knew what was going to happen. Although he did not like that he was right, he still felt good being correct.

"Sicarius," Danny called from the driver's seat. Sicarius stood up and walked next to him, "Look there ahead."

Sicarius immediately saw what Danny was pointing to. At least a hundred of _them_ were scattered across the road. The bus didn't have the traction in its tires and will slip and probably flip if underestimated. Danny didn't slow down as he eventually kept up pace and suddenly increased in speed.

"Brace yourselves!" Danny yelled as he began to plow through the horde in front of the bus. The bus shook violently as Sicarius grabbed the nearest pole and moved cautiously back to his seat. He sat down immediately\and gripped the sides of the chair to keep himself upright. Sicarius felt they were going to make it through, safe and unharmed, but not everything goes as planned.

The bus hit one of _them, _and flew into the air unceremoniously. The flipped in the air and seemed to hang there lifelessly as its passengers waited in fear of the impending crash. Mr. Hinako, the teacher, had flown out the nearest window. Sicarius had rolled behind Masako and was now her brace between the window and ledge. The bus toppled over onto its side, and for the poor teacher crushed whatever bones were in his body.

The teacher was halfway out the window when the bus landed on the ground. The teacher got crushed between the asphalt of the road and the steel of the bus and was grinded to smithereens as the bus slide forward. After about five seconds the teacher had gone limp and moved along with the bus.

Sicarius, who had been between Masako and the window, became a victim of pain. He landed on the window with a loud crack and a silent yelp. Sicarius landed on his side breaking at least two ribs. Masako, who had no control over where she was falling, landed on the poor silver-haired boy and crushed his ribs even more. Sicarius tried his best to concentrate on breathing through his now injured ribs and lungs with a girl lying on top of him.

Arashi had landed unceremoniously as well, but crushed the already dead teacher beneath him, to which Arashi almost simultaneously jumped to his feet. Alexis had caught herself on the chair and landed with the most ease out of any person here. Hikari had landed on a chair and injured her back once she hit it. Danny had slid underneath his seat and received the least of the damage.

After about thirty seconds of lying there, the group began to move. _They _were probably trying to get in to the bus and eat everyone alive so they had to respond quickly, and not treat every wound. Arashi was the first up as he smashed open the nearest window to escape. Danny soon followed by helping Hikari to her feet and providing backup to Arashi and Alexis against the incoming _them_.

Masako got up and off of Sicarius, who groaned at the sudden release in pressure on his newly broken ribs. Sicarius slowly stood up after her, and held his ribs in pain.

_I've been through worse, _Sicarius thought to himself repeatedly. He stumbled to the nearest leverage and slowly made his way out of the bus, behind the rest of the group of kids. The group of six, which came with the teacher, had run off to the right of the group.

They had probably thought that running alone would help them with their escape, but no such thing happened. The group of six was soon eaten alive. Although Arashi, Sicarius, Alexis, and the others couldn't see the group, the loud screams were enough to reveal what gruesome fate that had encountered. Sicarius leaned against the bus.

"Come on Sicarius!" Arashi yelled to his friend as he began fighting off them. Sicarius pushed himself off the wall with all the strength he could muster and slowly took one of _them_ out near him. Sicarius seethed in pain. There was no way he could do this without bringing the group down.

"Sicarius this way!" Arashi saw an opening behind a couple of buildings along the main road. The rest of the group also saw said exit and were already making their escape through the horde, or what was left of the horde. The crash had taken out a large chunk of the horde along with the survivors.

Sicarius stumbled after the group. Being injured as he was, he felt useless as of this moment. His ribs were broken and his mind was weak. His vision blurred.

_I'm not going to make it… _Sicarius passed out. He would have hit the ground, if not for Danny who had shown up and caught the fallen hero. Danny dragged Sicarius down the path and behind the buildings where the rest of the group was hiding out.

"I recognize this road. There's a warehouse not to far from here…" Masako paused as she looked around, "There!" About a mile away was an old abandoned warehouse at the bottom of the hill. The warehouse was bleak and was extremely worn down. The windows were barred shut with wood and it seemed like a haunted place instead of an abandoned one. Danny gulped.

"Can we make it?" Alexis asked. Danny nodded as he set Sicarius on his shoulders in a fireman's carry.

"Let's go," Arashi stated as he burst out from his position toward the warehouse. Arashi led the way through the backyards behind the many homes and buildings that would eventually lead to the warehouse. Arashi would sidestep, sweep, or kill all of _them _in his way, as Danny followed with Sicarius and the rest of the female group.

Arashi sidestepped one, which was pummeled by the remaining three able fighters from behind the group.

Arashi had reached the warehouse first and cleared the premises. Danny ran into the warehouse with Sicarius soon after the premises were cleared. Danny laid Sicarius up against a wall as he looked around the warehouse for any one of _them _that could be lurking someplace unexpected, like the bathroom.

After finding that the place was clear, except for a couple of rats that was impaled violently by a mistaken and jumpy Danny.

The group made it to the warehouse and sat around to catch a breather. Sicarius slowly awoke from his passed out slumber. He coughed violently for a moment, to which people watched him intently. Sicarius had broken at least two ribs. He was no longer able to go anywhere.

"Now what?" Masako asked.

"Well we have an injured man," Alexis agreed with Masako's question. What can they do.

"We have to do what we can," Sicarius responded sitting up, "I'm a third leg now."

"That's not true Sicarius!" Arashi snapped, "You've led us to safety and have kept your cool when many wouldn't."  
>Masako took off Sicarius's trench and wrapped around Sicarius. The distance between the two felt uncomfortable, but appealing at the same time to Sicarius, "This is yours Sicarius. Don't make me have to take off a dead body now."<p>

Sicarius nodded, "We are not the dead," He stated, "We are the life among the dead."

**Life Among the dead**

**End**

**So it wasn't exactly as long as I'd hope it to be. I've been sick this weekend and I have school tomorrow so I have had a time limit to how long I could type. But here it is thank you for you time and don't forget to review! :3 See ya next time^^**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five Decisions Among the Dead**

Sicarius lay asleep after the brutality of the crash. He was slumped against a wall and he was hunched over, which was not good for the two broken ribs on his left side. His wooden katana was next to him, and his trench coat covered him like a warm blanket. He had fallen asleep almost immediately after Alexis had checked out his injuries to the fullest extent she could.

Alexis had examined him like a doctor would of. Without X-Rays she couldn't have been one hundred percent positive how many of Sicarius ribs that were broken. She had run her hand along the side of his ribs gently, and waited for Sicarius to flinch. Where he flinched would be where his broken ribs were.

She figured, after a while of flinching and gasps of pain, had found that the fifth and sixth ribs were probably broken, and maybe his third rib, and although he had troubled breathing, found it a lot easier to breathe than most would, but the extreme closeness that was needed for the examination brought a feeling of extreme awkwardness for the silver-haired boy.

Masako sat in the corner of the room, and watched Sicarius worriedly. She believed she was partially to blame for landing on him during the crash. Her side though was also in a little pain for landing on him. She flinched a little when she touched her side. It was a little bruised, but not badly.

"It had been an hour," Masako stated from her position. She was sitting on top of a crate that was found in the warehouse, almost immediately after the group had arrived.

"Since when?" Alexis asked. She was against a wall next to Masako.

"Since the others left," Masako replied. Arashi, Hikari, and Danny had left to gather supplies, such as food, water, and medicinal supplies needed by Alexis to help with Sicarius, and any other future injuries, that aren't bites.

"How do you know the time?" Alexis questioned as she began to look at Masako disapproving, like she's been hiding something this entire time.

"I found, what I think is, Hikari's iPod," Masako immediately went to her own defense. She held up the rectangular device as proof of her claim and Alexis nodded slowly.

"What's on it?" Alexis questioned with a sneaky grin. Masako grinned as well.

"Well I haven't looked through it because I don't know her password," Masako explained. Alexis took the iPod off of Masako and inspected it thoroughly. She turned it on and looked at it for a second.

"Nope," Alexis stated, "I'm of absolutely no help here." Masako laughed under her breath. She thought it was funny that this was her reaction. She half expected for Alexis to pick up the iPod and know Hikari's password then and there, but such things normally don't happen, and it certainly didn't there.

There was a long silence between the two. They had nothing more to say to each other. They weren't great friends before all this had happened. In fact, they barely knew each other except for the occasional "passing by" in the hallway.

Masako risked a peek at Sicarius.

The silver haired man was resting peacefully, and he had this childish look about him. His skin was smooth, like a young boy's and not a junior in high school. She soon realized though that it was his eyes that gave away his maturity, not his body.

"He sleeps like a child does," Alexis stated to the dazed Masako, who almost jumped off the crate in surprise. Alexis laughed a little at Masako's antics, but continued all the same, "It's kind of funny to be honest."

"It is?"

"This is the same man who has led us to escape at least three times. The same man who, even with broken bones, still fought to remain standing, but here he is now. His face is smooth along with the rest of his emotions. He has the eyes of a man, but the mentality of a boy," Alexis explained. Masako was shocked. Alexis had figured this all in a matter of minutes trying to diagnose what exactly was wrong with him.

"You were the one that wanted that degree in medicine, were you not?" Masako asked, as she recalled the sly rumors that were passed around school.

"I was yes."

"Why?"

"Well because when I was thirteen, one of my friends got in a biking accident and broke his ankle," Alexis started, "Well, I didn't know what to do then, and I helped walk him to the nearest hospital. It turned out, that my friend was never able to use his right leg again because of my mistake. So I wanted to become a doctor, for I can keep people from hurting themselves too much, and, perhaps even, save lives, but I guess no dream can exist now. Not in a world like this."

Masako had listened intently to Alexis's background story, but the moment she had said the ending Masako had to be her cheery self and respond back quickly.

"What? You're being a doctor to Sicarius now," Masako pointed out, "If not for you he'd probably be dead or at least dying. You may not have been living your dream like you had wished to, but you are still saving lives."

Alexis stood there. Her mouth was agape as her thoughts scrambled over what Masako had said. Her posture had changed from the casually lean against the wall, to standing up straight and steady.

"I guess your right," Alexis responded a little quietly, "Masako?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you," And with a genuine smile, Alexis went back to Sicarius to straighten his own posture a little more to help with his breathing. Sicarius grunted to the pain in his sleep, but never woke up. Alexis smiled; feeling satisfied with herself and sat down. At that moment Arashi came in through the front door of the warehouse followed by Hikari and Danny.

"Got it!" Arashi exclaimed quietly as he walked in with supplies in his hand. Alexis nodded, and signaled for Arashi to be quieter, to which he responded with a slight nod of his forehead. He understood and that was good enough for her.

Arashi placed the supplies in the middle of the room. Their were a couple of frozen pies, a couple sandwiches, about ten bags of potato chips, to which Alexis frowned upon when she saw, and about twenty different assorted drinks. Danny had entered with a couple ice bags, to keep the water and food cold, because they all were thinking the same thing.

They weren't leaving Sicarius behind, so they have to be prepared.

Hikari brought in the medical supplies Alexis had asked for, and immediately collapsed onto the nearest patch of warmth.

Alexis had shuffled over to Hikari and picked up the medical tape that was found next to a couple of band-aids and some Neosporin, and painkillers.

Alexis walked back over to Sicarius and knelt beside him. She undid the tape and began to wrap it around Sicarius's chest and ribs like a master at work. Arashi and the others couldn't help but watch in wonder of how fast, and how expertise, she had responded to the situation.

Her hands practically glided around and around as she concentrated long and hard on getting the tape around him, tight enough that it'd stay and would help a little, but loose enough that he could still feel as little pressure on his lungs as possible. After she had finished wrapping the tape around Sicarius, she bit off the lose end with her teeth, pocketed the tape, and finished the final strand that was left, which was patted gently to Sicarius's strong side, his left side.

The moment Alexis turned around, a bottle of water came flying at her and she barely had the reaction time to catch it.

"Drink up," Arashi commanded. Alexis frowned. She didn't like being commanded, but drank the water slowly, for she was parched. When she looked back at the pile of food and water, she noticed there was not a lot of food there.

"We'll have to make at least another trip throughout the next week," Alexis pointed out. Hikari nodded.

"We are prepared for that," She responded and took out a small map. She gave it to Alexis soon after revealing that she had one, "It's a lot harder to make a map of the surround neighborhood when being chased by _them_, but we did so."

Hikari sounded casual, like it was nothing, but Alexis thought this was a great idea. The small map had a rough sketch of the perimeter of the warehouse. Squares represented different stores and the circle in the center represented the warehouse. There were initials inside some of the squares such as "M" and "D" or "F." Alexis easily decoded it to mean medicine, drinks, and food.

"So I guess we'll be sitting around here for now?" Alexis asked. Hikari nodded in full confirmation as she took a sip out of her water.

"Where else do we have to go?" Hikari stated. Alexis nodded in agreement, "Plus Sicarius is injured so we can't really go much else without a person. I don't know about you guys, but the guilt would kill me."

Alexis nodded in agreement once again and turned to face the sleeping man in the corner. Masako now knelt beside him, and just seemed to eat next to him. Whenever she was noticed by another member though her face would turn a light shade of pink, but she'd act as if nothing was going on and continue eating and drinking the food she had been given.

Danny sat next to Hikari, and ate while having a conversation with the young female. Danny felt at ease around her and he had no clue why, but that still didn't keep him from jumping when a small rat came scurrying across the warehouse.

The entire group laughed quietly at Danny's mercy and Danny even joined them in on the laughing. It felt like this was a great day for once.

Without _them_ outside, it felt like a picnic. There was food, drinks, and snacks, much to Alexis's dismay, to enjoy throughout the night. When it reached about eight the sun had set and a small fire lantern was set alight to provide the small group with the light needed to survive.

Sicarius, who had finally awakened, had shuffled over to the small group, with the helpful hand of Masako, of course.

"Sleeping beauty's awake," Danny joked. Sicarius shot him an ice cold glare. Danny knew than Sicarius was not one with humor and seemed to avoid the humorous side, whenever Sicarius was up and awake. The red eyes and trench coat scared him, especially when they were staring at him, menacingly.

"Well we survived our first day," Alexis responded. Sicarius walked up to her.

"Thank you Alexis," Sicarius stated. She smiled up at him and Sicarius didn't smile back. He just wasn't one to smile and laugh. Never was never will be.

Arashi looked around the warehouse, "We'll need people to take shifts."

Everybody silently agreed with him and waited for him to continue.

"Sicarius is injured so he counts for half a man. So I guess he can watch with Masako or Alexis, due to the fact that neither has a great chance with their offensive weapons," Both girls frowned and scowled at the man, "No offense," He said in an attempt to defend himself from the incoming beating before it happened.

"I can take both shifts, with help" Sicarius added. Masako and Alexis both agreed to this reluctantly, due to the fact that the pair needed an offensive weapon with them at all times, that actually has a chance against _them_.

"So with that settled," Arashi looked around, "Masako. You and Sicarius take first shift. I'd say about an hour long, and then wake up Alexis. Then we'll just wake up person after person every hour."

"Sounds fair," Sicarius responded. Masako agreed with Sicarius, and as the rest of the group fell asleep, joined Sicarius next to the wall that he sat up against.

_This'll be an interesting night….._

**Chapter Five Decisions among the Dead**

**END**

**I finished^^ Fastest update possible lol. So this is basically a fill in chapter, the next chapter will be more of a fill in chapter too. As of now I'm trying to build up the relationships each of the character's have with each other so it might go a little slow, but bear with me!^^ Thank you and don't forget to review!^^ Until next time! Adios!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Six Shifts of the Dead (Part One)

Sicarius had sat down, his back against the wall as he leaned into it. He had a half empty bottle of water next to him and a cold pack, made from some of the ice and two potato chip bags, which was situated on his ribs. Sicarius grimaced at the pain the ribs have been causing him for the past few hours.

Masako, on the other hand, was awake and cheerful, a little too cheerful perhaps.

Sicarius believed that Masako had digested too much sugar, and that caused her over joyful attitude. Sicarius knew that calming her down would be a challenge, so he avoided her for most of the time that they were meant to keep watch for. Well, up until now that was.

"Sicarius?" Masako whimpered. Sicarius could of sworn she was drunk, but Arashi didn't smuggle a beer into the group of drinks, to his knowledge. Masako had a slight tinge to her cheeks and seemed really tired.

_I see, _Sicarius thought as he diagnosed the situation in his head. Masako was tired, but wanted to stay awake, so she tried getting hyper and staying awake, and this was the outcome. Sicarius groaned.

"Sicarius," Masako pronounced a little more sternly, causing Sicarius to snap back to reality. Reality was extremely welcome by offering him the sudden pain in his side and he straighten his posture a little to lessen the pain.

The ribs were causing him a lot of problems. His ribs were definitely broken, or at least a few were. The medical tape around his ribs had stayed in its original place, and had no need of changing, due to the lack of blood around his wounded areas. The cold pack was helping nullify the pain, but by only a little. The pain was still there, but not in full force.

"Sicarius," Masako sternly pronounced. Her voice was bordering anger and had lost most of its nice appeal to it. Sicarius flinched at how dangerous her voice sounded and looked up at her. She smiled a wicked smile.

"Sorry," Sicarius responded. He really didn't want to get on her bad side if the two of them were the only two awake and he was at a disadvantage due to the lack of circulation.

"It's okay," Masako simply stated as she neared Sicarius. Sicarius backed away slightly, becoming a little frightened, and uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" Sicarius asked as she was about a foot away from him. Masako stopped after traveling about six more inches.

"I want it," Masako stated. Sicarius sat there, completely bewildered. Masako just said she wanted _it_. Sicarius really had no idea what to say. Without feeling love for the past year, Sicarius had practically given up on it, then this happens, not a day after the world seemingly came to an end.

Masako moved forward slowly. Her arms slowly found their way to the man's back as she came closer and closer. Sicarius, was now breathing heavily, his mind was on red alert as he sat there and stared at the incoming figure. Her mouth parted just a tiny bit, and the moment seemed to last even longer. The distance between the two became less and less. Sicarius waited for the dreaded moment with his eyes closed, afraid of feeling the guilt that will wash over him, but it never came. Just as the moment began it ended.

Masako had stolen Sicarius's trench coat right off his back and retreated about two feet. Sicarius who was frozen their like a total lunatic, had open his eyes when the moment never happened and let out a relieved sigh.

_That was all she wanted, _Sicarius thought a little relieved that she didn't want more. Masako had begun to eye Sicarius quizzically.

"Why are you sighing?" She questioned. Sicarius looked up at her. His eyes were once again a closed book just like his facial expressions.

"No reason," He responded. He thought that it would be best he not tell her what was on his mind. Although this was what he thought, the real reason would be it would be too embarrassing to tell her he was expecting a kiss not for her to steal his source of warmth, to which he scowled at the thought of his source of warmth now gone.

"Hm?" Masako caught on extremely quickly to what was truly going on in Sicarius's mind and decided to play a little trick.

_A little dirty, but it'll be fun, _Masako reasoned to herself. She smiled at Sicarius. It was a sweet and innocent smile, for he wouldn't expect anything, but that was proven wrong in a heartbeat.

"What are you planning?" Sicarius asked through questioning eyes, as Masako had done earlier. Masako seemed taken aback by the sudden fierceness of his gaze, and immediately decided against her little plan to mess with the man's head. She sighed and shook her head before looking around.

"Do you mind if I keep this for the night?" She asked him referring to his coat. Sicarius seemed a little surprised by this question.

_She already had it. Why ask me if she can keep it? _Sicarius thought to his-self, a little frustrated.

"Sure," Sicarius responded, "You may keep it for the night, but I will want it back in the morning."

Masako nodded in agreement and slipped the coat on herself. It fit her a little loosely, but Sicarius was bigger than she was and it fit him a little loose as well. It was more like a blanket for Masako then a coat. Masako backed to the wall and closed her eyes as she sat next to Sicarius. Sicarius subtly scooted an inch away from the close female specimen next to him.

Masako had fallen asleep within seconds. Sicarius, who sat next to her, sat comfortably beside her, looked around. He wished that the warehouse didn't have a roof, that way he could look up at the stars like he has done so many times before.

Sicarius has grown use to the night, and normally never found it chilling, even in the depths of winter. He actually found a sense of warmth every time the dark sky and stars had appeared above the horizon.

He let his mind drift to his past. The past he will never let himself forget. His thoughts always led back to one girl. Her long soothing brown hair calmed him. Her voice spoke to him, and although it was the same tiny little saying each time, he loved to here her voice speak to him through the dark, and sometimes lonely, nights.

The night was his friend and he has lived with it his entire life. His mind was filled with the beautiful pictures and landscapes of the many different cities across Japan. The wanderings he's been on, the people's lives he's ruined, and the family he's made throughout his small journey.

A web of intricate family members replaced his mother and father when he was eleven. Sicarius refused to delve deeper into his past, in fear of bringing up bad memories, the horrifying gruesome ones and the ones where he did what he had to on his tiny path for revenge.

Sicarius knew then that he had to stop his remembrance spree, and Masako helped him with that even though she was fast asleep.

Her head had drooped onto his shoulder causing him to jump in surprise and recoil back. He was shocked that she had fallen asleep so quickly and, after returning back to his calm self, had slowly, and painfully, stood up and stumbled over to Alexis.

He gently shook her shoulder, causing her to wake up slowly, which was a good to awake, due to the fact that there is a lower chance that she won't wake up screaming.

_Make sure nobody has night horrors, _Sicarius thought to himself quietly. As Alexis slowly awoke and looked up at Sicarius with a tired look in her eye. Sicarius nodded to her, as his sign of respect and she slowly stood up as well.

Sicarius_, _who had been, gathering a soda for her, was also making sure she was getting up out of the corner of his eye. Her body kind of swayed when she stood, and she seemed to want to lie back down. Sicarius almost chuckled, but kept his composure and walked back toward the struggling lady.

"Here," He handed her the soda, which was a coke, which was in his hand, "Drink this. It might help a little," She thanked him silently for the drink and took it from his grasp gratefully. She took a sip of the refreshing drink and was instantly awake for more than one reason.

"Coke?" She seemed surprised she was actually drinking the carbonated soda. Sicarius just simply nodded in agreement to her revelation, and gave her a confused look.

She laughed a little to herself, now fully awake, and held up the beverage for Sicarius could see it.

"Coke is my favorite drink in the world," Alexis stated. Sicarius raised an eyebrow. He was never a big fan of the carbonated soda such as Coke, but he did begin drinking at a young age due to his lack of support, "I'd do anything for it," She continued. Sicarius thought about this for a second.

"You'd kill for it?" He asked. She shook her head, but paused for a second obviously thinking something over.

"Unless I'm killing something that's already dead," She responded with a joking tone. Sicarius of course didn't get the plain sense of humor, and required Alexis to explain what she just meant, which involved confusing the man even more than what was actually needed. Alexis shook her head.

"You need a sense of humor Sicarius," She told the humorless boy, who stood a little bewildered by the sudden change of mood.

"And you need to find something else to obsess over instead of a drink," She laughed full heartily, but quietly.

"You do have a small sense of humor in your head," She joked, but Sicarius frowned.

"I was being serious," Alexis laughed again. Sicarius felt his eyebrow twitch. Not even five minutes and they were already arguing. Or, at least, that's what Sicarius thought anyway as he drank a little from a water bottle.

Danny had been smart when he brought in the two bags of ice. One, it was a sedative for Sicarius, and two, it was like a cooler for all the food and drinks that needed it in order to stay healthy and good.

Sicarius sat down again and eyed Alexis's pocket knife.

It was a tiny weapon, much shorter than Sicarius's wooden katana, and Sicarius could not see killing one of _them_ would be easy with such a miniature weapon. On top of that, even if she could kill one, she'd have to be extremely close to actually stab the brain, and anything can go wrong at that distance. That's why she hasn't fought before, from what Sicarius has seen, because she didn't have a safe, easy to use offensive weapon at the time.

"I know," Alexis said as she slowly pushed her hair behind her shoulders, "It doesn't make me a real 'asset to the team.'" Sicarius looked back at the switchblade and then to Alexis.

"The blade is not a real asset to the team, but you are Alexis, with or without your weapon," Sicarius kind of thought as he said it, and barely even he was done speaking when Alexis had come over and sat next to him.

"You probably know how to use one don't you?" She asked. Sicarius nodded slowly.

"It's not challenging," Sicarius started, "Especially for someone like me because I never needed it. Its main purpose for me was as a throwing knife."

"I see," Alexis responded, and the conversation between the two ended there. The next hour involved silence, with a few words spoken here and there, and a lot of boredom.

When the hour was over however, Sicarius was relieved to finally be rid of the long and torturous awkward silence, as was Alexis. Even after this experience, she has come to respect him a little more than what she had the moment she saw him as he ran up the steps to the roof of the school building.

_That feels like it was so long ago, _She thought, and with one last look to the group, and the now waking Arashi, she stumbled off into a small slumber. Sicarius however joined Masako leaning against the wall, and using the warmth of her, and his trench coat around her, to finally fall asleep himself…

**Chapter Six Shifts among the dead **

**Part one ** **End**

**Okay so I was a little tired as I wrote out the chapter :/ so I decided to split in two parts^^ Tell me what you think. I decided to go slower with Alexis because she does not see much of Sicarius and only believes in him as a leader not a friend. So I thought that should go slow and stuff like that. The next chapter (Part Two) Would probably feature the rest of the group. And, if I can later, I might combine the two chapters into a mega long one so Goodnight and do not forget to read and REVIEW :3 thank youssss!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven Shifts of the Dead (**Part Two**)**

Arashi had woken up slowly. His legs were not yet adjusted to the sudden weight that would be placed upon him the moment he stood up, so he took his time getting to his feet, when he was though, and the weakness in his legs had subsided, he walked over to the two ice bags against the wall near the middle of the warehouse.

He opened the bag and stole a bottled water silently. His mind wandered his body to take a look outside. Even with the darkness outside Arashi could still make out a few silhouettes of _them _that were near the building. He counted five within sight.

He barricaded the door with a few heavy boxes and made sure the light, provided by a lantern in the room, was going to last.

_It has seemed to have gotten darker in merely a day, _Arashi thought as he recounted his visual impression of the events that were taking place outside. Everybody's mood has dimmed, but, although it has dimmed, it has not diminished and there is still hope within everybody here.

The lantern didn't provide much light within the densely packed warehouse. Arashi never noticed before, but stacked to about five feet high, were boxes upon boxes upon boxes. The sizes didn't vary much, each about the same size tall, wide, and long, so the order in which they were stacked upon each other really didn't matter.

Arashi picked up one of the top boxes in the large forest of them. He immediately noticed it was a light object, and was easily transported to the ground in front of himself, to which Arashi knelt down beside it.

The box was a little worn, as it would have to be by now. The cardboard was saggy, and provided a deep indent on the top part of the box. It was also a deeper shade of brown than what the cardboard box was supposed to be. The tape was also frayed a little, and could easily be pulled off, so Arashi did just that.

He gripped the tip of the fray loosely in his hand and, pulling gently and as quietly as he could, tore the tape off the top of the box. He discarded the tape on the floor about a foot away from the box, and seemed frozen before the box.

_What's inside?_ He wondered as his mind jumped to bizarre conclusions, _Guns? Cocaine?_

He opened the box, expecting something exciting and bizarre to shoot out at him, but he was not greeted with such an appealing fate. His face turned to one of pure disgust and he cowered away from the box when he opened it.

_Condoms? _Arashi wondered, his face contorted in shock, disbelief, and anger. His mind couldn't grasp the fact that he was now staring at a box full of condoms. There were at least a thousand different types of the sexual protection device. Arashi looked around to make no one was awake, before moving on to the next box, hoping to find something more appealing and interesting.

The next box was a lot more luck and, as Arashi opened, felt a very relieved pressure lift off his shoulders. Inside the box were dozens of costumes and props for what seemed like the classic "knight versus dragon" scenario. There was a princess costume, one knight costume, and what looked like a poorly designed lizard costume with wings. Arashi prayed for the poor sap that had to wear the dragon costume.

He looked through the box for only a few seconds more before closing it up and returning back to its original place and taking another one off the shelf. He repeated what he did with the previous one. He picked it up, found where the tape was frayed a little, and tore open the box silently.

Inside seemed like a different play this time that matched the idea of a lone samurai rising to power and saving citizens with this increased power. Arashi remembered watching this one as a kid, and it brought a smile to his like it had done so many times before. Arashi looked through the costumes, more carelessly now, and he soon found a small plastic sword used as the main samurai's weapon.

Arashi swished the blade through the air a few times with a big grin on his face. Arashi soon though became bored and returned it to its original place next to the box with the poorly made lizard costume in it.

Arashi picked up the next box and found it a little heavier than the other two. He set it down, and after opening up like the other boxes, found out the reason.

There was reinforced wooden bo staff at the bottom of the box. It seemed out of place for a play, so Arashi proceeded to dig through the bottom of the box in order to find some information of the box. There was refugee clothing as the pretty much main clothing throughout the main storyline, so Arashi thought that this story would have a lot of people who had no home and, to an extent, he was right.

At the bottom of the pile of clothes, props, and other miscellaneous junk that took up space within the box, was a list of materials that was suppose to be within the box.

_Five swords, _Arashi read. He wasn't reading aloud, in fear of attracting more of _them_ to the warehouse, _one plastic bo staff used for the main nomad, and one real bo staff used as a family heirloom throughout the story._

That was all the information Arashi needed for him to know that the staff was, indeed, a real staff that could cause serious damage if used correctly, so Arashi claimed it as his own. Arashi stored the rest of the unneeded items back into the container before placing it next to the shelf, but being too lazy to actually place said box on the top of the shelf where it belonged.

He picked up Hikari's iPod and looked at the time.

"11:59?" Arashi asked to no one in particular as he seemed a little shocked at how fast his hour flew. He looked around the room to the next two that should be doing the next two shifts, Danny and Hikari herself. Arashi, being the gentleman he was, began to stalk Danny like a zombie who had found live meat. Arashi stopped for a second from the own analogy they came into his head.

_A little ironic, _Arashi thought, but shook that thought aside as he walked up to Danny.

"Danny," Arashi whispered to his sleeping friend. His sleeping friend stirred, but never awoke. Arashi shook his sleeping friend this time, as he called his name once again; still no response. Arashi looked around Danny and found a half-empty bottle of water next to him. Arashi concluded that the bottled water belonged to Danny and picked it up.

He inspected it for a short second before slowly removing the lid. Arashi slowly tilted the bottle over Danny, a sadistic grin coming to his face as the water began to pour out of the bottle slowly. The water splashed against Danny's face like a raging torrent, and the victim suddenly awoke.

His screams were muffled by the flowing water into his mouth. The screams came out as muffled noises, much to quiet for anybody outside the building to hear, and that's what Arashi had planned all along.

Danny rolled over, onto his stomach, the moment the water ended. His ruffled green hair now shagged in front of his, blocking some of his vision. Arashi was lucky of this though, because Danny was giving him a glare that could stop time.

Arashi rose from his position and walked over to the ice bags near the center of the room. He picked up a fruit punch-looking drink before handing it to the downed Danny. Danny had taken the drink gratefully and downed about half of it before finally shaking the wet green hair from his eyes.

"All right," Danny stated, staring at the ground, "You may sleep now Arashi. I'm up."

Danny looked up after ending his command, and found Arashi already passed out on the far side of the room. Danny deadpanned.

_You're kidding, _He thought. He took another swig of the cold drink in his hand and felt relieved as the sudden quenching in his throat began to disappear. Danny sighed lightly and looked around the darkened room.

It was dark, of course, with only a few strands of light coming in through the windows due to the silver moon in the sky. The rest of the light was caused by the lantern in the center of the room. The lantern still shone brightly so Danny knew that he had nothing to worry about, about running out of light, anytime soon, but a sudden gust of wind, brought along the fact, that the group would need of source of heat throughout the next few nights.

Danny took a quick look around the room and his eyes soon fell upon the group of boxes in the back of the warehouse. He meandered his way over to the peculiar site and took a quick sip of the fruity drink in his hands.

The closest box had taken Danny off guard. It was full of condoms. Danny stared wide-eyed at the box for merely a moment before his thoughts drifted, and he tried his best to keep the creeping blush from appearing on his face. With little luck, and ignoring the thoughts that traversed his mind, he moved on to the next box.

This box was full of costumes for what looked like a medieval play. There were swords, knight costumes and princess costumes in the small box. Danny found that the costumes offered little to no heat whatsoever, especially the princess costume. Danny scoured the rest of the boxes in the most sequential order he could.

The second box carried what looked like stuff that would be situated with a beach, setting, type of play, and would not help stay warm at all. The second box had animal costumes in it, such as lions, tigers, and bears. Danny smiled at the inward joke that formed on its own.

He picked up a bear costume and put it on.

He found it extremely comfortable and warm. The bear's hands were simple gloves, and did not hinder his ability to carry the dual knives around. Danny grinned triumphantly as he seemingly danced his way to a window over looking the outside of the warehouse.

He sat on the top floor as he kept watch thoroughly. His knives were laid beside him. His green hair had dried, and now shone in the silver light given by the moon. The bear costume had given him sufficient warmth, and provided a stable and comfortable thing to sit on, as he watched for any of _them_ come near the warehouse. One did, but seemed to walk into the wall repeatedly, before turning around and walking the other way. Danny sighed in relief. He really didn't want to fight right now, and he was sure the rest of the group didn't want to either.

Danny felt a hand on his shoulder, and he almost lunged up and attacked the person behind him. If it wasn't for the small frail voice that had risen during the quick instinct on Danny's part, there would be another injured member of the team. Danny came face to face with Hikari, who seemed surprised by his sudden reaction. Danny immediately backed up and stared out the window, trying to hide the blush that had found its way on to his face.

"Why are you dressed up as a bear?" Hikari asked. Danny looked up at her, before returning his gaze back to the town in front of him.

"I was thinking of eating you guys," Danny responded casually, "But you caught me," Hikari stifled a laugh and looked around the room quickly, before taking a seat next to Danny.

"I do believe _they_ will beat you to it," Hikari responded. Danny frowned.

"You don't believe we'll make it?" He asked. Hikari, just noticing what her words had sounded like, immediately denied it.

"No, we'll make it," She put out frantically. Danny nodded, but Hikari also remembered something and looked away, "Do you think they made it?"

Danny sat there for a second. His eyebrows furrowed as he pondered the question. The seconds seemed to take an extremely long time as Hikari anticipated his answer, eventually though he spoke, but it was not what she expected.

"Who?" He asked. Hikari deadpanned.

"Sabrina and Chris," She further explained her question. Danny's face went to one of realization, before returning back to the furrowed eyes. He again pondered the female's question, this time with more clarity.

"They made it," Danny suddenly spoke with a slight grin appearing on his face, "I'm sure of it."

Danny doubted his answer, and by the look in the brunette's eyes, could tell she doubted his answer as well.

"Your shift is over," Hikari responded. Danny nodded and looked around.

"Thanks Hikari, I guess it's time for me to hit the hay," Danny responded and looked around, "If you need anything wake me up, okay?"

Hikari nodded, and with that Danny fell asleep right then and there on the spot. He used Hikari's shoulder as a pillow, and the giant bear costume as a blanket. Hikari also felt the warmth from the bear costume as it leaned into her. She also felt a very different warmth rising to her cheeks and she cursed herself for being like this, but eventually she came to terms with it.

Next shift would be Sicarius and Masako, so she sat around for an hour enjoying the light tranquility before going to wake the sleeping duo, and returning to her spot next the cuddly bear…

**Chapter seven: shifts of the dead**

**END**

**So I hope you guys like it^^ I'll be posting the author's notes after as many chapters as I have time for**** so be prepared O.O well I think I'll end the shifts there, due to my lack of skill at writing them, so expect the next chapter to be more action filled and stuff like that. I just needed these two chapters in the story to increase the relationships among the OC's^^ Well don't forget to review and PEACE! :3**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Eight Decisions Among the Dead**

It began with a subtle cry, a cry in the middle of the day. The group lay asleep, cuddled up next to a member for warmth, or wrapped up in an extra costume for the warmth that those provided as well. The night had taken them; their thoughts wandered dreams that seemed all too familiar to them. These dreams were that of the past, in a place that they once knew.

It seemed as if they had stored everything they thought they knew about a world and stored it away, for use later on in life when it deemed most necessary. The dreams were that of the kind world; the world that existed not too long ago. It seemed as if these dreams would no longer be reality, but the fantasies and nightmares of some have just came true.

It began with a scream. The scream signaled that the end was nigh, and there was nothing anybody could do about it. If Sicarius had proficient hearing, he probably could have heard the violent screams that would of, without a doubt, have echoed across the entire city.

The city had been overrun in a matter of hours, and possibly, the entire world had had the same outcome as their city, or even worse. There were at least survivors in the small city, and, due to its size, less of _them_ roamed the streets.

But imagine a place like Tokyo, or Boston. The major cities around the world could already be infected, and for those who are still alive in these major cities, are probably not going to last long, but they would want to last forever, just to feel the air across their skin.

The dreams portrayed this. The dreams would go on and on about the calm life. Waking up to family, walking to school, feeling the fresh air and the kisses of one's mother against their skin, the scent of growing flowers, and the beauty of mother nature. This was all ruined by the simple action of opening an eye, and that's exactly what happened to Sicarius.

Sicarius dreams, on the other hand, were plagued with the horrors of the night. Blood curdling screams would pierce through him, awaking him from the horrors that sleeping had brought to him.

The cold sweat slowly dripped off his cheek, and landed on the floor with a soft _splash_. Sicarius looked down at the now wet ground. The miniscule puddle of water seemed to shine in the moonlight that came through the window not a floor away. Sicarius stared lifelessly at the puddle of water.

An illusion seemed to pass through Sicarius's mind as the small puddle of sweat turned into a puddle of deep crimson blood. Sicarius stared at it for a second, his mind trying to decipher the meaning of the blood that it could possibly hold. Immediately a face appeared in it. It was his own.

The face was easily identified due to the silver hair and red eyes that appeared before Sicarius. His face was pale, but it had a hidden emotion behind it. Sicarius couldn't quite place the correct emotion, but he knew that the man in the pool was hiding something, something dark.

His hair was messier than what Sicarius's was now. Strands of it were poking out of the sides, and it was a darker shade of the silver color that he was accustomed to. The eyes seemed hallow, and Sicarius felt a tremendous loss in the man's eyes, like Sicarius was staring into a void, then he remembered.

"No," Sicarius whispered. The man in the pool seemed to react to his words. He reached out, his arm coming out of the pool of blood and grasping onto the top of Sicarius's trench coat. Sicarius tried to pull back, but the man had ridiculous strength, and Sicarius was slowly being dragged, against his will, into the small pool.

Immediately Sicarius awoke in a cold sweat again. The sweat never dripped off his skin nor did it change into blood. Sicarius's eyes searched frantically around the warehouse. The boxes were still out of place, as they have been for the past three weeks. The lantern was still running, and Sicarius couldn't find any of _them_ near, or inside, for that matter, the warehouse.

Danny was curled up against a wall. He wore a brown bear costume, which was extremely dirty and worn after a week of use. Some of the hairs that were part of the costume were frayed out, and the costume itself was torn in some places, but Danny still wore it, and he never complained about wearing it, except on bathroom breaks.

Hikari was sleeping next to ice-bags. She was curled up next to them after complaining it was too hot for the necessity of wearing costumes, such as Danny's. Her hair had fallen in front of her now closed eyes, and her body was scrunched together, to either, gather warmth, or provide a more comfortable position to sleep in.

Alexis, on the other hand, had taken a more significant approach to it, and had gathered three costumes, two for pillows, and one for warmth. She wore a tiger costume. It was a little tight on her, but still provided the warmth needed for the night. Her stomach and chest heaved up and down with each exhale and inhale that was taken in during her slumber. Her hair was behind her, splayed out in many directions. She lay on her back, her arms outstretched as she slept very peacefully, if not gracefully.

Arashi was next as he sat near the top floor window. His eyes stared out into the town that lay beyond the window. His left knee was brought up to his chin as he rested his head against it. He was dressed up in his school uniform still; due to the fact he believed his uniform was more comfortable than the costumes themselves.

Masako, the last person Sicarius had noticed was situated on the man's shoulder. Her head rested on top of his shoulder, while the rest of her body leaned into it. Her hair was brushed to the side of her face, except for a few strands that dangled in front of her eyes. Her lips were parted just slightly so the light breathing of the young woman could be heard by Sicarius easily. Her arms dangled to her side, and her legs were curled up underneath her. She seemed calm.

Sicarius couldn't think of a way out of this, and not wanted to wake any of his fellow students, or attract the attention of those things outside, so Sicarius remained still, allowing, for once in his life, a female to be within a foot of him. His mind always wandered when it came to the female specimen. He always had questions about them, but he could never find answers. His main question was: Why did they always change personalities on you?

Sicarius had a bad run-in with this once, and it is not a tale he'd rather recall. His mind still wandered though, to less important matters, such as why he was so bored during the night tonight?

Sicarius sighed. The night would normally be what kept him moving during the day, but that was a year ago. The same thrill he felt then is no longer what he feels now. He may be calm during the night, but he will never feel the same about it. The night had taken something from him, something extremely important. So now, every time the moon reveals itself over the dark horizon, Sicarius feels a tremendous burden pressed against his shoulders.

_It was my fault, _He thought, the events of the past flooding back into him. The blood that spilled on that one day that was meant to take place, but the one day Sicarius would always wish he could rewind and avoid. The blood that flowed that day, was blood never meant to be flown. That's when Sicarius realized, the blood of strangers would not decide his future, but the blood of those closest to him would.

He felt the wooden katana that lay next to him. He laid the katana across his lap, like he used to with the real one he had carried around so long ago. The hilt of the wooden katana rested up against his left shoulder, the one opposite of Masako, and the blade, itself, disappeared in his lap. He brought his right knee up and left his left straight. He soon let his arms dangle into his lap, around the wooden katana.

He soon remembered that only like this could he have gotten a good sleep that night. With his sword by his side, and his body scrunched up like this. He closed his eyes, hiding the crimson red from the on looking moon. The silver hair shined against the moonlight that struck the man in his rested stage.

Sicarius soon relaxed. His arms relaxed, and dangled just a little bit more than what was necessary, and his body soon lacked the tension it had felt only seconds before. Sicarius felt as if he was boneless as he slowly drifted off into sleep.

Morning had come quickly after that point. Sicarius woke up without any sweating, or bleeding. Masako had already awoken and was now awaiting everybody else to wake up.

Under the daylight, provided by the sun, everybody had a more dirty appeal to them. Their hair seemed greasy, and their eyes had this deep shadow to them. Their clothing was ratted and torn, with a couple of frayed strings hanging loose of the actual piece of clothing.

Sicarius, and his trench coat, seemed like the two cleanest things inside the small warehouse, but Sicarius knew it was not true. He hated feeling dirty, and years of not being able to do anything about it, has forced his body to adapt to the idea of being dirty, or going weeks upon weeks without a shower, which is what has been happening to the group in the warehouse.

They didn't have any soap, shampoo, or substance to wash themselves, except for a couple bottles of water, to which they had plenty of. The cold water was the most they had for bathing, and normally involved using the water four, five, times a day. Sicarius used it at least four times a day, sometimes five, if he deemed it necessary.

"Morning Sicarius," Masako stated from her position next to the drowsy, silver-haired man. The man's eyes were half open, and he still seemed extremely tired, as if he hadn't slept well in ages, which was part true.

"Morning," Sicarius half-responded, half-acknowledged the female as he spoke to her. Masako frowned. Her friend was acting extremely different today, and it wasn't a good difference. His shoulders were still sagged, and his red eyes seemed to want to go back to a closed position. His face seemed to melt, his features sagging deep into his face, but still, the childish appeal remained on his face as he yawned. Masako believed this was funny and awkward side to the swordsman amongst their group, and stifled her laughter at the man's bizarre behavior.

"Ah morning you two," Alexis was also up. She sat wear she slept, her arms encircling her chest as they folded across it. Her eyes were not as droopy as Sicarius's, but did have the tired appeal to it, much like Sicarius's eyes are at the moment. Her hair was frayed and stuck out in many directions, and, when Masako saw this new hairstyle of her friend, she couldn't continue her stifled laughter any longer.

Her voice was quiet, as to not attract _them_, but loud enough for the two people near her can hear the soft, unique sound of the young woman's laughter. Her voice filled the warehouse in a low whisper. It felt good to whisper, and Masako was taking as much time as she could to laugh about her current situation she was in.

Alexis and Sicarius, on the other hand, were staring at her like she was some sort of alien. Their eyebrows were arched in curiosity. They didn't have to think hard in order to think alike. Why would she be laughing?

"I'm… sorry," Masako relinquished between laughs. She covered her mouth to suppress her giggle fit, to Alexis and Sicarius's appeal. Sicarius's eyes soon wandered the room after the laughter, coming from Masako, who was still trying to suppress her laughter to the best of her capability, came to an end.

"We can't stay here forever," Sicarius pointed out, adding a serious mood to the situation at hand. Masako glowered at Sicarius. Due to his lack of humor, her never really laughed, or smiled, at her, and that disappointed the young female. Sicarius ignored the glowering girl and waited for an answer, or solution, to the problem at hand.

"Well we can still look for our family," Alexis responded, "But my family isn't in town anymore."

"Mine are," Masako relayed. Sicarius let the information pass through him, and seemed unaffected by it. Masako glowered once more. He just didn't get it. She was worried sick about the family that could already be dead at this moment, but he didn't try to comfort her, or show signs that he heard it, Alexis on the other hand continued.

"Well where does your family live then Masako?" Alexis questioned.

"On the other side of town, about ten miles from here," Masako further explained. She thought about the condition her family must be in. The amount of death they must have experienced. They are probably scared out of their mind.

_Unless… _Masako thought, _No I refuse to think like that. They can't be. They aren't._

"Well we'll head there," Alexis responded. Masako's eyes shot up. They were going to find her family first, but why? What about the others? Weren't they worried about their family as well?

"When everyone awakes we'll go," Sicarius added. He stood up and picked up a couple of water bottles before exiting the warehouse to do one of his daily washing. There was a couple seconds of silence as Masako thought of what else to say to the black haired girl in front of her, but came up with nothing, but empty thoughts and fraises.

"We need to wash up too," Masako stated. Alexis showed a look of complete disgust as she totally misinterpreted what Masako meant. Masako soon realized how that could have been taken wrong, and blushed profusely, "That's not what I meant," She immediately disclaimed frantically. Her head was swimming with thoughts that had no reason to be there.

She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts, but ended up getting her hair in a tangled mess, much like Alexis's was previously. Her hair puffed up, and her bangs fell in her eyes. She tried blowing one of the strands of hair from her eyes, but it managed to fall back into the place it was at just seconds again. She blew at it again. The same result had taken place so she blew again, and again, and again. After a while she huffed and crossed her arms, ignoring the strand of hair that dangled mockingly in front of her eyes.

Alexis suppressed a laugh, just as Masako had done earlier, but her cheeks had turned slight pink, and, even from behind the hand that tried to cover her mouth, Masako could still see the sides of her mouth perked up in a tiny laugh. Although Masako felt ridiculous, she couldn't help but laugh anyway. She felt so childish, laughing at such a small thing, but that's what she lived for now, the little things in life that she can enjoy, while she's living that is.

Masako shuddered at the thought of being turned into one of _them_, but kept up the small laughter anyway.

Soon the laughter had died away, and Sicarius re-entered the building, completely dressed in his trench coat and school clothes. His hair was wet, and his face a nice shine to it. His eyes were still the same deep crimson red, and even the water had not changed the cold stare that Sicarius seemed to give the group as he walked back into the warehouse.

Masako continued to laugh, but this time walked straight over to the red eyed man. His silver hair seemed to have been ruffled about by his hand, and she ran a hand through his hair without thinking. It was smooth, like she expected it to be, but it had this rough sense to it, due to the dirtiness of the hair after three weeks.

"We all need a real shower once in a while," Masako pointed out, before grabbing some water and hurriedly followed Alexis, who had already gathered her provisions before heading out the door. She stopped, suddenly, without warning, before heading out the building completely. She spun on her heel and faced Sicarius behind her, about ten yards. She bent over, and placed two hands on her hips.

"You peek, you die," She taunted. Sicarius just looked back at her, and said the simplest of things.

"There'd be nothing to peek at," He stated simply. Masako, of course, took immediate offense to that, but she handled it like a kid and stuck her tongue out at the man before heading out of the building.

Sicarius could hear excessive giggling and whispering coming from the outside of the building. Sicarius, of course, knew that they'd be okay on their own, but he also knew that they would yell if trouble came their way, mainly because they forgot their weapons inside the warehouse. Sicarius eyed the fire ax inside the warehouse and picked it up. It was pretty light in his hands, and Sicarius twirled it in his hand once before setting back down in its upright position.

"So today," Sicarius thought aloud, "We're leaving."

Masako and Alexis returned into the warehouse. They weren't fully clothed, but they seemed happy, and both wore a broad smile, but both also had the slightest of blushes across their face. Sicarius looked at the two girls, and suddenly came to a realization.

_I'm going to be around these two for a while; as I am with the rest of the group. I don't know how long we can last, but as of now we are like a family. We are a small family, and we will do everything in our power to survive as one…. _

**Chapter eight decisions of the dead**

**End**

**So the first thing you all probably figured out is this is a lot longer of a chapter than what I've normally done^^ I am proud lol Remember, REVIEW PLEASE I AM APPRECIATIVE IF YOU REVIEW. IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT JUST ONE! :3 thank you :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Nine Separate the Dead**

**** It was a cold morning. The light, produced by the shining sun, went unguarded as it passed through the simple old windows of the large warehouse. Its residents were young; all were high school students, and were the very least likely to survive the unexplainable event that had placed itself upon the world. They were sleeping calmly, which was surprising, in light of recent events.

Arashi had not slept soundly, or at all, for the past hour. Low rumbling and the shaking of the warehouse kept him awake throughout this time. He had awaken and stood up warily, but sat down almost immediately after and glowered at the door until it had seemingly fell off its hinges, causing a tightened grip on the bo staff he had acquired a couple days previously through a costume box.

Arashi decided that this was a better time than any to get off his butt and begin to wake his surrounding comrades.

He stood up slowly. His muscles ached with each new pressure that was applied by each low subtle movement. They whined with the release of said pressure and Arashi let out a small groan as he stretched wildly to help relieve the tension in between his muscles.

He slowly stumbled his way over to his green haired friend lying splayed out on the floor. He wore the fuzzy bear costume that he had been wearing since the time he found it. The costume's fuzz was now ruffled up and had specs of dirt throughout the lining.

_He needs to get out of that, _Thought Arashi as he walked over to his unconscious friend. Danny's hair fell beneath his head with only a few strands of his green hair covering his faced. His left arm was hanged loosely over his stomach while his right was brought up as a pillow for his head. He seemed peaceful.

"Get up," Said Arashi as he began to shake Danny's sleeping body. Danny's eyes shot open at the first touch they had placed itself upon him. His body lurched itself into a sitting position and he took up his closest knife and held it in front of him, pointing at Arashi's unsuspecting neck. Arashi bent his neck to avoid being slit open.

"Too jumpy there, mate," Said Arashi as calmly as he could muster. The fire in Danny's eyes seemed to die down reluctantly and he lowered his knife.

"Sorry Kitsuneo," Responded Danny once his knife was lowered completely.

"It's alright. Now help me wake up the others," Commanded Arashi as his focus returned to the leaning door. Danny followed Arashi's eyes to the door, and cursed softly.

"How'd they know?" He questioned. Arashi simply shrugged and pointed to Hikari who was lying asleep in a corner near the front of the warehouse, "Wake her up. She'll need to get out of there quickly."

Danny hurriedly trotted over to the sleeping Hikari. Her brown hair lay loosely around her and her eyes were shut against the light around her. She was lying on a cut open bear costume and had another cut open bear costume as a blanket. Danny couldn't help but stare at the young woman as she slept.

Meanwhile, Arashi had turned his attention to Sicarius, another silver haired member of the group. He was resting against the wall, his trench coat covering both him and the female next to him. Arashi tried to compare the size of the coat to the man asleep against the wall. It was much bigger than what it had to be.

"Wake up Sicarius," Pleaded Arashi as he shook Sicarius lightly. Sicarius' eyes slowly opened up, the red orbs slowly becoming visible to the world. Arashi took a step back as Sicarius woke up and stretched a little from the position he was in.

"You know, when you slowly open your eyes, it's kind of scary," Arashi pointed out sarcastically. Sicarius rolled his eyes, "Wake her up."

Sicarius looked to where Arashi was pointing to see Masako resting happily on his shoulder. Her brown hair fell unevenly in front of, and behind, Sicarius' shoulder.

"Go on," Arashi coaxed. Sicarius stood up, taking his trench coat with him, and letting Masako tumble to the floor. She groaned quietly and rubbed her nose after about a second on the floor.

"Morning," Said Arashi as he did a good job keeping his laughter down to a minimum. She glared, "_They're _coming," Arashi pointed out before a verbal fight broke out, which would probably end up with Masako yelling at Sicarius, and asking him to forgive her a hour later.

She mouthed an 'O' before rising to her feet and walking over to the back corner, nearest the flight of stairs leading to the top of the warehouse and the attic.

By this time Arashi had woken Alexis and she stormed up the attic stairs much faster than everybody would expect from somebody who had just woken up. Arashi did not fail to notice that Danny had yet to wake up the sleeping Hikari, and had snuck up behind him rather quietly.

"Quit gawking Lover Boy," Arashi teased. Danny jumped slightly, not prepared for the silver haired boy to come up from behind.

"I wasn't gawking. I was simply—"

"Admiring her features," Interrupted Arashi sarcastically.

Seeing no counter argument Danny said, "Right," Before slowly waking up Hikari. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled for heartedly at Danny, but faltered when she saw the tomato colored face of Danny. She was about to question why he was so flustered, but didn't find the words as Arashi had taken them from her.

"Up! Up!" Arashi commanded as he picked up his bo staff and stood in the corner of the room where Hikari was still laying. She hastily rose to her feet and walked over, with Danny, to a small device that Alexis had set up a long time ago. It was a bottle machine gun.

Instead of throwing out the empty bottles that were finished they simply filled them with air, attached a string, and very delicately placed the cap back on the bottle. When needed they simple pull the multiple strings and the bottles shot the caps off at high speeds; hopefully high enough to end one of _them's _lives.

A loud thump sounded off and Sicarius stood in the corner closest to the door, across from Arashi.

"We sow seeds to see us through," Arashi spoke one last time before the door came busting down. _They _came flooding into the building at least five at a time.

Danny and Hikari didn't have a chance to say anything before they pulled the strings in their hands. Soft popping sounds ringed off as the caps escaped the bottles extremely fast. The caps flew all over the place. Sicarius ducked beneath his coat while Arashi just plain ducked to avoid the whizzing caps they flew wildly around the room. The few caps that actually came in contact with _them_ was able to push them back, but only a few actually died, or died again.

"Go Alexis!" Danny yelled as he dropped the strings and picked up the two kitchen knives in the corner of the room. Hikari picked up the hockey stick next to the kitchen knives and waited for her chance to strike.

"There's so many!" Alexis yelled back. She was up in the attic, carrying Masako's fire axe with her. She was looking out the window to see hundred of _them _flooding toward the warehouse.

"Just cut it!" Ordered Danny. Alexis obliged and turned the ax she was carrying to a string hanging lifelessly in the air with a loud gong behind it.

"Hope this works," She silently prayed and swung her axe at the gong, cutting through the rope and slamming into the gong. A heavy box, held up by the rope, fell, and the gong attracted the attention of many of _them _that were inside the building at the time. The box landed with a loud crash and those underneath it were ruined.

Sicarius jumped in immediately after the gong had sounded off and slashed one of _them _across the face with his wooden katana before back flipping and kicking the poor being on its ass. When he landed on his feet he swung his blade vertically smashing the head of the closest one to him.

Arashi leap frogged Sicarius, using his back to slide across Sicarius' own, and spun in the air to connect his bo staff with the face of the one of _them _that was directly in front of Sicarius. He immediately lunged his staff forward, pushing one of them back and slid the staff to the right colliding with another one of _them._

_That was AMAZING, _Arashi thought. He twirled the staff in his arm and stopped it when it was held in a defensive posture in front of him.

By now Alexis had came down the steps and returned the fire ax to Masako who was grateful to have a real weapon in her hands. She nodded to Alexis, which could have been comprehended as "Good luck," or "See you in the afterlife."

Alexis swung her axe clumsily in a sweeping motion, to which Alexis dive bombed and struck the flailing _them _that lay on the floor.

"Come on Danny!" Pleaded Hikari, "We gotta get in there!" When she was met with no response she turned around. Danny was nowhere to be found. Hikari felt as if her heart had just been ripped out of her and felt despair wash over her. He was gone, there was nothing to change. She sank to her knees, tears threatening to escape her eyes.

Suddenly there was a loud bang echoing from outside the warehouse. Danny stood next to a metal telephone pole, a large piece of wood held firmly in his hand.

`"Hey! Over here!" Danny yelled as slammed the wooden plywood against the telephone pole. _They _began to turn and stalk in the direction of the loud noise extruded by the slam, "Keep coming you flesh eating gits!" He yelled as he ran down the street slamming telephone poles and cars as he went.

_Danny led them away from us. We're safe…. For now._

_**"DANNY!"**_

**Chapter Nine separate the dead**

** End**

** Alright I am so very sorry for not being able to update. My aunt passed a couple weekends ago and I have not been able to strike up the amount of resolve to actually sit here and write this. But as of now I'll be back on track for as best as I can**

** DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS EXCEPT SICARIUS NOX. **

** I do believe that that is a necessity. Don't forget to review. Until next time byebye!**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter Ten Order of the Dead**_

_**"DANNY!" **_

That was it. As easy as that, one member of the ruffian high school group was gone. It was blow they had not been willing to take, or accept when it was given to them. They watched his green hair disappear over the horizon created by the dip in the hill that led away from the abandoned warehouse as he ran down the street slamming large wooden planks into walls, street lights, and cars to attract the growing horde. Arashi dipped his head.

"A brave man he is," Arashi sighed out gently. Everybody offered their own agreement, but it still seemed like empty words. What could they do for a man who had just given his life for theirs, without the certainty of survival for either party, it was a hard answer.

"We need to move," Alexis offered solemnly. It was very blunt, but it was required.

"She's right. Staying here won't save us," Sicarius agreed quickly, and lifted a sheathed his wooden katana around his waste like a real weapon, "We need to find shelter and food. A couple of decent weapons won't hurt either."

"We could try the mall?" Masako tempted.

"To what cost; our lives?" Arashi chimed in, "I'd rather test my luck back at the school then end up there."

"He's right," Sicarius stated, "The mall would easily be overcrowded when this happened and will be crawling with _them_, just like the school."

Hikari remained quiet. She fingered her blouse repeatedly and sat in against the corner of the building like a small child who had lost her doll. Her eyes were red from recently lost tears and she seemed much older, and tired. Her ponytail was undone and her hair lay at her shoulders like a solid mop.

"I want to go home," Hikari muttered under her breath. She was young and she was devastated.

"You would only see what you have found here Hikari," Arashi responded, not unkindly, "It's for the best we don't return. We don't want to see the state of some of our families," There was an unsettling pause that followed almost immediately after. They knew what he meant. They feared for the condition of their families in this hazardous wasteland, but what not one of them has ever thought that their families are actually alright.

"I want to go home," She repeated again, a little more sternly.

"How close is home?" Sicarius asked suddenly. His face was a mask again, and it was not easily read. Hikari just slowly pointed to the upper right of her bosom and Sicarius slowly followed her finger. There was an apartment building only a couple of blocks from their current position that seemed safe enough. It was a light red color with a couple of balconies on the upper steps and double doors in the front. Arashi smiled.

"Well, it's the best we can do. Let's get going."

"Alright." The group muttered as confirmation of agreement. Sicarius nodded and let everybody else go up ahead as he helped Hikari to her feet.

"It'll be alright Kinomoto," Sicarius said, "We're going home."

She smiled a little and proceeded to take a step toward her destination, but slowly ever so slowly something crept up on her. Her vision blurred like her glasses had been removed, but she could still feel the earpieces resting upon her ears. She tried to steady herself on the warehouse, but found that the warehouse was not behind her like it should be, then she realized it. She was falling. She would have screamed, if her voice worked. She believed she did try though, but no sound released from her throat. She felt as if she was trapped as she fell, which led to her crazed mind. Only a second later her mind blanked and felt nothing, heard nothing, and soon saw nothing as the world around her went black.

The excess weight on Sicarius's arm took him by surprise as he caught Hikari's surprise fall. She had passed out suddenly, without warning, and Sicarius reacted as fast as he could to catch her before she hit the ground and deal some real damage. He lifted her, bridal style, in his arms and marched over to Arashi and the others as they made their way to the apartment building that housed the Hikari's home.

"What happened Sicarius?" Alexis asked, a part of her voice hinted at accusation.

"She passed out when she stood up. Maybe she stood up too fast. I wouldn't fret myself too much over it though; she'll wake up soon enough."

"How do we get to her apartment now?" Masako questioned. _She looks fine today. _

"Easy find the room sheet thingy and find her last name," Arashi smiled to prove he knew what he was saying, but it still came across half then professional.

"The 'room sheet thingy;' you mean the Guest List?" Alexis asked her voice was oozing smart-ass.

"Yes, that," Arashi answered with a grin.

_It's a very different situation. _Alexis smiled back and laughed a little. _People are not all the same as they would make themselves out to be. _

They arrived at the base of the apartment without any resistance at all, but simply opening the doors changed that in a heartbeat. One of _them _popped out of the door like he was waiting for Arashi too open it his entire undead life. Arashi jumped back almost immediately and poked it with the head of his staff, egging it on. It took the bait and charged at Arashi, who spun in a circular motion and smashed its head. Bits of brain and skull shot across the door and floor as the, now dead, body dropped motionless to the floor.

"Close one," Arashi muttered with a stupid grin plastered on his face like an idiot. He led the way into the building slowly like a man stalking his prey. There weren't many on the first floor, only about three or four, and were easily dispatched by a couple quick blows to the head.

"Now that the floor has had a nice make-over in this beautiful red color," Arashi stated sarcastically as he searched the receptionists desk for the Guest's List. "Ah-ha!"

"Found it?" Alexis asked as she checked the general desk on the other side of the lobby.

"No, but I found a donut," He responded before popping some of it in his mouth and giving the rest to Masako to pass around to the group.

"Here it is," Alexis stated as she picked up the list. She dragged finger down the list as she read the names until she ran across Kinomoto near halfway through the list, "Kinomoto. Room 207. 4th Floor."

"Yay. Stair climbing," Arashi muttered with fake glee.

"I'm taking the elevator," Masako responded.

"So am I," Agreed Alexis.

"I'll follow Arashi," Sicarius chimed in, "Meet us in the room. Take care of anybody you see outside the room… or _inside_."

The two women stepped inside the nearest elevator as Sicarius and Arashi climbed up the steps.

"It's only the fourth floor, how high up can it be?" Arashi asked. Only after a few moments of climbing did Arashi regret that statement. The entire climb took about five minutes due to the occasional _them_ located on the stairs or the weaknesses in Sicarius's legs as he carried Hikari up the steps. By the time they entered Room 207, Sicarius's legs were wobbly and he barely had enough time to lay Hikari on the bed before collapsing on the floor. His legs hurt badly, as if they were slowly being eroded away by a jackhammer. It was a spell he'd go through every once in a while due to a problem with his nervous system. It was not a bonus to have. He gritted his teeth as the pain intensified and laid next to Hikari on the bed. His entire body shook as his legs stung with extreme pain,

"You alright man?" Arashi asked Sicarius after a short while.

"Ice." Alexis left the room and seemed to be gone for a little while. She went into the kitchen and filled a bag with water then through it in the freezer to create the ice that was needed for Sicarius's leg pain. She returned to the room shortly after and gave the bag of ice to Arashi.

"Here," Arashi took it and thanked Alexis for retrieving the ice. He laid the ice on Sicarius's legs as sleep overcame his friend and he passed out next to Hikari.

"Was there anybody in the room when you entered?" Arashi asked suddenly.

"No there wasn't," Masako responded, "But there was this."

It was a small note that was left on the end table and had a few words scribbled down on it.

_Hikari, _

_ This is Mom. Dad is gone; he was taken by those things when it started. There is a metropolis off the edge of the city I'm heading there. It's not suppose to have any of them isn't that great? I don't know if I can make it though. I hope you're alive to read this. I love you Hikari. See you see sweetheart._

_ Mom~_

"A metropolis?"

"A story for later. Let's get some sleep." Alexis responded.

_**END OF CHAPTER 10 **_

**Hope you guys liked it. It's not my best work, but it still took a lot to get back into this. Well wish me luck on the future chapters and always Read and Review send me PM's as well always great to receive a message from a reader like myself **


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter Twelve Burials of the Dead**_

Preparation in silence. That's all that happened after the moment they arrived in Hikari's apartment room, located on the fourth floor of a hotel that was not too far off from the warehouse they were in previously.

They spoke soft words to each other as Sicarius recuperated in the room and gathered his strength for the upcoming journey. Hikari had left with Arashi only previously to the lobby to fetch a map from the lobby, while Alexis and Masako left to search the couple neighbor apartments for food, water, and supplies.

"What if _they_ are in there?" Masako asked, referring to the walking dead that seemed to haunt everybody's lives like a horde of ghosts in a haunted house. The pair of girls stood facing the first door to the left of Hikari's hotel room. Masako fingered the key around her neck. Hikari had stolen the key off a dead body, who must have been the manager because the key opened every door in the hotel.

"Well, we bash their heads in," Alexis grinned from her blunt response and Masako swallowed, "Don't be such a baby. Come on, let's get this door unlocked."

Alexis lifted her weapon, a blunt hockey stick, over her head like a baseball bat. Masako placed her weapon, a fire axe, along the side of the wall next to the door. Then, moving swiftly lifted the manager's key from under her shirt and inserted it into the keycard lock. The lock beeped and Masako put the keycard back under her shirt before twisting the lock down and pushing open the door silently.

Alexis took a step into the room first as Masako was lifting her axe off the wall. She readied her hockey stick by her head and slowly scanned the room as more of it opened up to her. She stood in the center of the bedroom and waited patiently with Masako next to her, readied with her weapon across her chest. There was no sign of movement for a long while and Alexis kept scanning the area like a cat. She slowly began to tap her hockey stick across the bed frame. Nothing happened.

"Nothing," Alexis pointed out as she lowered her hockey stick. Masako was wearier and kept her axe up in case of an emergency. Alexis immediately shrunk over to the mini-fridge for a quick look at the contents. There were a couple root beers, waters, and a coke.

"Hallelujah!" She half whispered as she tucked the coke into her pants and gathered the water and root beer in her hands.

"I find some medical tape and some snack cakes in the cupboards," Masako stated as she returned from the bathroom. She held up the supplies as proof and the pair of women slowly left the room and returned to Hikari's room next door to find Sicarius sitting up.

"How ya doing, _Nox_?" Alexis questioned as she appeared in the room like a butterfly with her giddiness. She walked over to the mini-fridge and opened it up.

"Holding up. You seem…. content," Sicarius pointed out as Alexis began to hum to herself and put away the waters and root beers.

"I am! I found my baby!" Alexis exclaimed. Sicarius and Masako gave her dumb looks.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd of gotten pregnant before Alexis," Arashi pointed out as he walked into the room followed by Hikari and the map of the city, "We got the map. I feel like I'm from Dora now."

Alexis giggled and Arashi gave her a strange look, "Something's not right with her."

"I found my baby!" She exclaimed again and popped the can of coke in her hand before taking a swig, "You got to preserve the flavor by taking small sips or it'll go away too quickly." She giggled again.

"That's your 'baby'?" Masako questioned aloud as she motioned Arashi and Hikari deeper into the room and closed the door behind them. She made sure it was locked and then followed Hikari into the room.

"Yup! Isn't it cute?" She exclaimed again and she held up the drink like a prize. Hikari giggled and Masako laughed a bit.

"It's just a coke," Arashi pointed out.

Alexis gasped, "It's heaven in a bottle!"

"Okay? Then it's _good _coke," Arashi stated sarcastically as he rolled his eyes over-dramatically.

"It's amazing coke!" Alexis argued with a slight pout.

"Shh. Keep it down Carter," Sicarius stated, "Don't be too loud. We don't want to attract any of _them _to our presence."

"Sorry," Alexis apologized and quickly danced to edge of the bed, giggling the whole way until she sat her butt down on the edge of the bed in front Sicarius's feet.

"I have the sudden urge to relieve the coke from your possession," Arashi stated. Alexis hissed at him and held the coke close to her bosom in a defensive manner.

"Hey guys; we need to come up with a different place to stay," Hikari piped up as she leaned against one of the walls.

"Why's that?" Masako asked. She lifted the fire axe across the length of her shoulders and rested her weight upon her legs.

"Well, there's not enough room here for the six… five of us," Hikari corrected almost immediately after saying 'six.' Hikari eyes went downcast, and she stared at the floor as if it was the most amazing thing in the world at the moment, "Plus it's a bit dangerous to be as close so close to the ground."

"Close to the ground?" Arashi questioned, "Hikari, we are four stories high."

"But getting farther up will make us safer," Hikari argued.

"We'll be able to escape faster if we are closer to ground level," Arashi argued back. Both had very good points.

"If we are expecting a long stay, then we follow Hikari's plan," Sicarius decided almost immediately, "If we are not, then we follow Arashi's."

"How long is 'long?'" Alexis asked.

"A couple of weeks or months," Sicarius responded as he swung his legs over the sides over the bed to sit up.

"That's a long time," Alexis stated, "Very long."

"If we plan on staying a maximum of two weeks," Arashi put in, "We'll have to move sooner or later."

"Agreed," Sicarius stated, "Let's check the top suites."

"The top suites?" Masako questioned.

"Well they are bound to have the most food and bedding for the five of us, and maybe survivors as well," Sicarius pointed out. Alexis nodded slowly thinking this over.

"It's twenty floors high," Hikari complained almost immediately after Sicarius had stated the length they'd have to travel.

"But it's also twenty floors between us and them," Masako pointed out, "It's the best chance we got; let alone the safest."

"I know, but twenty floors?" Hikari complained again, "That's really high."

"It was your idea Kinomoto," Sicarius stated, "Unless you'd rather go with Arashi's idea and stay here?" Arashi grinned a big lopsided grin.

"No. We can go up the steps," Hikari agreed grudgingly.

"Let's get moving then," Sicarius stated as he stood up off the bed and led the way out the door toward the stairway.

Sicarius went up first, clearing the stairway of the occasional _them_ that came in the way with a quick swipe of the wooden katana and flinging them down the stairway. With a splat he'd move on, taking out the next one and sending him over the rail.

"It's the best way to kill one without bashing it in the head," Sicarius whispered as he clambered past Floor 10. Hikari groaned.

"We're only _half_ way there," She complained.

"Much easier to go down then up," Arashi pointed out, "I can show you, just lean over the railing."

Arashi stared at him like he was a lunatic and he laughed a little before continuing up the stairs at the normal pace. Hikari kept up with him.

After a short while 'Floor 20' appeared on the wall and Sicarius ducked behind the door and took out the nearest one of them with a quick swipe to the lower jaw. It flew off its feet and into a hotel janitor's cart.

"Guessing that was yours," Sicarius stated sarcastically as he swiped his wooden katana at the air to remove the blood. He put a shoe on the back of the cart and gave it a heavy push down the hall. The cart collided with some of _them _and crashed into the wall making a loud bang which attracted the rest.

"Come on," Sicarius whispered as he led the way to the nearest suite. The band of people followed him. The first door he tried was locked, so was the second, "Grr."

"Move," Masako commanded as she dropped to her knee and unlocked the first door with the master key she was given. The group ushered into the room quietly and, just as quietly, closed the door behind them.

"Alright. We're safe," Sicarius stated, "But that problem needs to be taken care of as soon as possible." He mentioned to the group of _them _outside.

"What's that?" Hikari questioned as she edged over to the bed. A thick, heavy rope was tied around a bedpost. Alexis tilted her head.

"I don't know," Arashi responded. He edged closer to look at it as it led out the closest the window. It was tight, as if a heavy weight hung from the other end, and as Arashi peered out the window, he realized that that's exactly what it was.

"It's a man."

And sure enough it was. His mouth hung open, and a noose was tied neatly around his neck like a baby's cradle. His breeches were wet and his nice dress shirt torn apart.

"He threw himself out the window," Sicarius stated, "He proclaimed himself dead before he even died. He was weak before it even began." Sicarius turned from the window and snatched Masako's fire axe from her hand. He lifted the axe above his head

"Let's give him a _proper_ way to die."

And snapped the rope with a quick cut down of the brandished axe.

_SPLAT!_

_**End of Chapter 12**_


	13. Chapter 13

Life Among the Dead

**Chapter Thirteen Hero of the Dead**

"What the hell was that about?" Alexis asked suddenly. Sicarius looked blankly in her direction and placed the fire ax on the bed. Alexis shook her head and marched herself right underneath Sicarius' reaction timing. He leaned a bit backward to keep his chin from colliding with the tip of her head and possibly biting his tongue in the process.

"What?" He asked, not a bit disheveled by her sudden approach and stared indifferently into her blue eyes. She glared back, obviously annoyed by something.

"What?!" She imitated causing a slight scowl to form across the younger man's face.

"Yes, what," He answered keeping his voice level surprisingly.

"How could you do that so heartlessly?" She strained. Sicarius stared at her indifferently once again.

"He was already dead," Sicarius responded, "So what's the problem?"

"The problem is, he was still a human being and you casted him aside like some disposable object," Alexis countered.

"'Was'," Sicarius pointed out without moving away from his elevated position. They stared at each other for only a second more, before Alexis stormed off toward the window to look through the broken view.

"What was once a clear view, has become a broken mirror," She heard behind her, "It reflects the worst in us, but you must remember that these mirrors never reveal your heart."

She turned slightly around to find Arashi standing a reasonably distance away from the female he was talking to.

She laughed lightly to herself, "That was strangely philosophical for you, Arashi; but I don't see how it makes sense in this situation."

"Well think about it. If you'd look in a mirror now what would you see?" Arashi explained.

"What would I see?" She paused ever-so-slightly and huffed, "We don't have time for these stupid riddles, Arashi."

"Just answer the question."

"Fine," She looked out the window for a moment more before coming up with her answer, "I guess, I'd see myself, but I'd look more threatening, almost animalistic," She laughed a little to herself, "Maybe my hair would be sticking up in several places and I'd be foaming from my mouth like a rabid dog. But all joking aside, I believe I'd seem darker and much less human in a way."

"And what about before all this happened?" He stated. She glowered at him, "Just answered. Sometimes self-perception is the best type of understanding."

She huffed again, "I guess I saw myself as a friendly person with many friends-"

"No, your personality."

"Uhm, my personality, huh?" She thought for just a moment more once again, "I was afraid of change actually. I held everything to close and was afraid that it would soon just fall apart before my eyes; and I guessed my fear was realized the moment this hell broke loose. Besides here I am, almost perfect, as if this- this thing never happened. I would see a young woman with her hair brushed and neat and her eyes calm. It would be as if this would never happen; it's still kind of hard to believe that it is happening."

"I believe that the amount of stress that's in the air is due to the fact that none of us have come to terms with the new post-apocalyptic world. The stress is getting to us; all of us," Arashi explained his thoughts on the matter, "We just have to talk about our problems instead of losing our cool and blowing up over _trivial _matters. We need every single member we got to make sure we survive just the night. Without each one of us we'd surely not make past a night."

"What about Danny?" Alexis cut-in. Arashi went quiet, "You don't think he made it, do you? You think he's one of those _things_, walking and moaning until he finds some human flesh to dine on."  
>"That's not what I meant," Arashi interrupted, "I'm sure he's okay. He's a survivor, just like the rest of us. He's smart enough to make it out okay."<p>

"You're only saying that to reassure yourself," Alexis pointed out. Arashi went quiet once again, "I'm right; but I also agree with you. Danny has that survivalist instinct in him. It's almost a guarantee he'll make it out, with or without the rest of us there to back him up."

"You're right," Arashi and Alexis turned to the voice, "Palmer is a not a weak man. He will find a way out."

"Wow Sicarius," Arashi stated, "That's very emotional for you."

"Don't expect it again," Sicarius countered, "Arashi is right; and that goes to all of us. We all have to work together to make it out alive."

"Agreed," Masako stated, throwing her voice into the group.

"Right!" Hikari also through her voice into the conversation with a small smile.

"Now," Sicarius interrupted the happy mood, "Arashi we need to clear out this floor."

Arashi eyes narrowed in determination, "Of course."

"We'll give you three the heads up once the coast is clear to open up the suite to the left, check inside and gather supplies. We'll be lookouts as you search."

Everybody nodded as their roles were handed out to them.

"Arashi," Sicarius took up a position near the door, "No use waiting."

"I guess not."

Once both males were situated in a strategic manner, Sicarius slowly opened the door that led to the outside. There were only a few of them; maybe ten to twelve roamed the hallway.

Sicarius moved into the hallway first, gripping his wooden katana loosely in both hands. He slowly snuck up on the nearest one of _them_ and rose the sword above his targets head before slashing down extremely quickly and in less than a second the battered brains were spread across the floor and hall. This, of course, attracted the attention of most, if not all, of _them _that occupied the hallway.

Arashi went too a different position quickly and silently as _they _had their primary attention focused on Sicarius as he slowly led them farther away from Arashi as said man snuck into the flank. Once Arashi acquired his required ground he went to action and immediately snagged one of _them _with a quick bash to the head. He twirled the staff around his body and effectively eliminated two more from their standing, and undead positions.

Sicarius slowly, but surely drew four of them from Arashi while the remaining four drove after Arashi. Sicarius slammed his katana into the left jaw of a roaming one of _them_ and kicked it away with a straight kick into the gut. He spun easily on his planted leg and swung his arms in a full arc around his head before slamming the dull weapon into the back of it's skull causing blood and brains to fly in every which direction.

He pulled his weapon and the body came with it. Sicarius deadpanned.

"Well this is interesting," He tugged at the sword trying to pull the wooden sword from its head. It didn't work and the body just moved with the sword. Sicarius sighed and dodged one of the incoming _them _and used the body on his sword as a shield to eliminate any oncoming attackers.

_Hurry up, Arashi_, he thought wildly.

"Let's go now," Masako whispered to Hikari and Alexis before sneaking out of the room and over to the other suite. Masako reached into her pocket and pulled out the key and immediately inserted it into the lock without much difficultly. She turned the key and slowly opened the door, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Hikari stood defensively with the fire ax and Masako had a kitchen knife while Alexis still carried around her pocket knife.

"In we go," Masako confirmed as she slowly stepped into the suite and was soon followed by Alexis and Hikari. All three women stopped dead the moment they entered the room.

The room was a white, but was barely noticed behind all the blood that covered the walls and floor. On the floor were two dead bodies, one a male and one was female. The male was naked below the waste down because his butt was easily noticed, but also soaked in blood. The woman was naked above the waist and her left breast was chewed out by the male it seemed. There was so much blood, it was hard to tell what was what, but one thing stood out, the recliner.

It wasn't as much the recliner that stood out, but the person sitting in it. He wore a knowing smirk and was completely leaning into the recliner. There were two kitchen knives on the left arm, but neither of his hands was near the blades. He had both his hands behind the ruffian green hair that covered his head.

"Danny?!" Hikari whispered incredulously.

"Hello," His smirk never faded, "It's about time you guys found me."

**End of Chapter Thirteen**

** It's taken a long time, but I have not given up on writing this for this much like practice for me. So remember always**

**R**

**E**

**V**

**I**

**E**

**W**

**And hopefully my next chapter will be soon^^**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen Dead Fear**

"Danny?" Hikari questioned, flabbergasted at his sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe this is close to where you lived at least. So, I waited here, at the top of this hotel with the sliver of hope that you'll soon arrive here as well," He responded flatly, the smirk never left his face. "Now let me ask you a question, Kinomoto. Why is it we are all alive? Why is it that we, the seemingly only sole survivors of this disastrous apocalypse, are still standing?"

Alexis moved a bit in front of Hikari. Using her left arm, she extended her reach to metaphorically protect Hikari from the verbal onslaught of Danny.

"Oh! Alexis is here too!" Danny licked his lips as if imagining he was devouring a thanksgiving meal, and as if he had so many options going through his head, "This has just turned out to be quite the extravaganza!"

Hikari raised an eyebrow at Alexis to symbolize the surprise that was already evident upon her face. Danny's smile twitched. He moved fast and flicked a knife in Hikari's position that passed barely by her nose and out the door.

"I'm right here, bitch!" Danny snapped not-so-Danny-ish. "No need to make faces," Immediately his smirk was back, "It'll contort that beautiful face that I have came to admire so admirably."  
>Hikari and Alexis were in shock. Their faces were frozen as they stared straight at Danny's smirking face and watched silently as he quickly erupted in laughter they easily edged on the line of crazy.<p>

"Do you need me to fix your faces? Just like I did this two?" Danny motioned to the two people on the floor; his smirk fell slightly. "I mean, I just wanted some food, and they stared at me like an animal. The man here even had the bold thought to point a gun at me! AT ME! Can you believe it?!" Danny erupted back into his laughing fit, "He never saw it coming! Now his face will always have that hideous smile that plagues my dreams!"

Danny had a crazy look in his eye that was easily distinguished. He wore a giant grin on his face by this moment, but both Hikari and Alexis had no idea how to respond to the situation they were so violently thrown into. To make matters worse, both Sicarius and Arashi were outside fighting _them_ and holding them off, counting on Hikari and Alexis to succeed in their scavenger hunt. So they were alone. Hikari slightly edged her hand toward the door, in hopes of getting out of the room as fast as possible.

"Don't even think about it, slut!" And before she knew there was a knife held against her face. Alexis was pushed off her feet and landed only couple of meters away, but still too far to deal any real damage to Danny. Danny crooked his head slightly in her direction.

"You move and I stretch her smile so wide, it spreads all over the room!" Danny snapped. Hikari's eyes widened ever so slightly at the amount of pressure that seemed to throw itself upon her as his hungry eyes stared straight into her terrified eyes.

"I watch you fly on paper wings high above the world; time for you to finally see reality," he picked her up and slammed her against the window that oversaw the entire city, "Does that look like it's still happy and cheery?! DOES IT?!" Hikari slowly started to shake her head and mumble a no between the tears that began to fall down her cheeks. The Danny she knew was gone.

"So answer my question!" He snapped at her and slammed her head against the glass. Immediately he was jumped from behind, "What the-!"

Masako, who had seemed to remain hidden from Danny, had appeared at the last second, but Danny was not ill prepared. He grabbed her by her right arm and half yanked it from her socket in the process of flipping her over his back. The breath was knocked out of her when her back collided on the floor and a large ringing shot through her spinal cord.

"Bitch!" Danny had reached a new level of anger, "Me and Hikari were sharing a comfortable moment," And proceeded to kick the helpless girl at his feet. For Masako, the pain was unbearable for just a short while before her entire body went numb from the physical abuse Danny put into the kicks. When he felt satisfied with the beating he had carried out, he left her sprawled out on the floor and turned his attention to Alexis. Her eyes wide with fear as he approached her.

Hikari was out with a gash in her forehead that bled down the side of her face and Masako could do nothing but stare helplessly at the ceiling for the pain was too unbearable for her to even move. Alexis was on her own, and Danny knew it.

"You seem like an intelligent girl," Danny seemed to ponder openly, "Answer this question for me and you're free to run; of course knowing that their lives are on your hands as well. If you answer successfully you leave! If you don't, well you still leave, just not the way you want to!" Danny burst out laughing as if he told the best joke he's ever heard. "So let us begin!"

Alexis slowly nodded as she reached into her back pocket for her pocket knife, "Alright."

"What happened here?" He motioned to the half-naked man and woman. Alexis followed his motion to where they were lying.

"They were killed."

"Obviously! How?" He asked.

"Man ate the female it seems," Alexis responded matter-of-factly. Danny smile grew.

"Wrong!" He still wore that freakish grin, "I ate them both!" He flashed her his teeth which had been stained blood red. She flinched involuntarily at the grotesque revelation. She looked over at Danny to find him staring at her, with that same hunger in his eyes and a wild smile plastered on his face. Only when she noticed where he was looking did she finally break her cool.

His eyes were fixated on her breasts with that hungry stare. Disgusted, she flipped her pocket knife open and slashed at his face and cut him right along the left cheek. Stunned, Danny's eyes shot in the direction of Alexis next incoming attack and did a split second decision of jumping into her and sending them both sprawling over the floor. The unexpected attack forced the knife from Alexis's hand and she rolled fast to try to get to her feet before Danny took advantage of a lying down opponent.

Danny was up just as fast and slapped her extremely hard in a flustered rage. Alexis barely had the time to react before he threw her onto the floor and clubbed her in the back of the head, effectively disorienting her. She crawled on all fours on the floor as she tried to gather her scrambled mind.

Danny, taking advantage of her momentary weakness, clubbed her again. Alexis dropped from her crawling position and felt her scrambled brains go even farther from returning as she felt his hand slam against the back of her skull for a third time. This time she was completely disoriented and offered no resistance as Danny rolled her over on her back and immediately gripped at her pants.

His fumbling fingers were only able to get the pants half way down both her legs revealing the black panties she wore underneath. Again, licking his lips, Danny began to get impatient with the amount of time it was taking to actually begin the disastrous event. Alexis barely saw the flash of silver, red and black as it passed through, but she did immediately feel the presence of Danny get lifted her body. Alexis could barely move her own body, yet comprehend the extremely fast set of events that were passing by her like a race car, but she did see the head of silver hair pointing a wooden sword directly at her would-be assaulter.

"Sicarius!" Danny yelled as if he was greeting an old friend. Sicarius's eyes narrowed. "This extravaganza is getting even better!"

Sicarius wasted no time with ill necessities this time around and bolted straight at Danny who had not seen the sudden attack coming. Danny only felt the dull thud as his lights went out forever and he felt his brains fly against the wall and floor. Alexis closed her eyes slowly as she let her own exhaustion take over; her last view was of Sicarius standing for just a short second before collapsing onto his knees next to Danny; his old friend who couldn't make it out of the danger zone, and joined the world of the crazies.

He could almost hear Danny's last words.

"I was already a dead man."

**End of Chapter Fourteen**

**Who would have guessed it would have taken me so long to finally finish this chapter! My apologies readers, I'll try to stay on top of things this year, but it is much, much more challenging to remain on top of this story as well my other story as well as school. Well I hope you all enjoy and if you do remember to **

**REVIEW**

**PRIVATE MESSAGE  
>AND FOLLOW FOR YOU CAN KNOW WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER COMES OUT!<strong>

~Lupus


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen Animosity Toward the Dead**

Sicarius knelt beside his fallen comrade. Danny's final words spoke of what happened to him after he had disappeared in an attempt to draw attention from what had become the only remaining survivors in their small group that had escaped from the high school just a couple of months prior to this overwhelming experience. Danny had been bit as he had ran for both his, and his friends', life, and, believing he could do someone about it, resorted to cannibalism in order to try and overcome his own misfortune. It didn't help, but instead drove his mind to the edge of insanity.

Sicarius gripped his wooden kendo sword tightly as he fought back the urge to lose his own control over his emotions. Having always been emotionally detached, Sicarius had found it easier to survive by remaining distant from everybody around, but even he had a breaking point, and killing one's friend can sometimes lead to that breaking point.

A soft cough interrupted his train of thought, and his head whipped into Masako's direction as she laid breathing, but beaten. Sicarius quickly stepped over to where she was laying and he immediately saw the biggest difficulty he who have to face up to this point. Masako was too injured.

He could just tell by the look in her eyes, the distant look that seemed to be becoming more and more distant within just seconds, but upon closer inspection, Sicarius found that her ribs were far beyond repair. Her sides were even dented in from the power placed into the ferocious kicks that tore her innards apart. Sicarius watched helplessly as she coughed again and liquid as red as his eyes spread across her chest.

She couldn't speak even if she tried all she could do was mutter one word to Sicarius as if it was her dying will, and it may as well have been.

"Sing," Her voice was weak as she seemed to barely hold on to the tiny grasp of life that she had left. Sicarius was surprised to say the least at her odd request, but took up her hand anyway and sang for the first time in many, many years.

_Wish I was too dead to cry_

_My self-affliction fades_

_Stones to throw at my creator_

_Masochists to which I cater_

Sicarius remembered his sister at a time like this. The last time he had ever sung was to her, and she died immediately after. It reminded him of the situation he was in with Masako, and he could barely hold him self back to continue on.

_You don't need to bother_

_I don't need to be_

_I'll keep slipping farther_

_But once I hold on_

_I won't let go til it bleeds_

Sicarius reached and took Masako's hand in his and smiled gently to her as she smiled gently back and began to relax within Sicarius's, for once, soft grip.

_Wish I was too dead to care_

_If indeed I cared at all_

_Never had a voice to protest_

Sicarius looked slowly into Masako's eyes as her own closed and her breathing steadied. Sicarius felt as if slow hands were wrapping around his throat as he choked out more of the song.

_I wish I had a reason_

_My flaws are open season_

_For this, I gave up trying_

_One good turn deserves my dying_

Masako shook her head ever-so-slightly as he said those lines to signal she disagreed with them. He brushed a piece of hair from her face as it covered her eyes and the slight smile that had snaked its way on to her face.

_You don't need to bother_

_I don't need to be_

_I'll keep slipping farther_

_But once I hold on_

_I won't let go til it bleeds_

He gripped her hand tighter in his as he continued. Somehow the peaceful moment was getting to him and his outer shell was cracking under the enormous emotional pressure it had been thrown under.

_Wish I'd died instead of live_

_A zombie hides my face_

_Shell forgotten with its memories_

_Diaries left with cryptic entries_

"I…. wish you will…. live for me," Masako chocked out miraculously. Sicarius nodded slowly, and watched as Masako's eyelids flutter shut and her breathing slow. Her body was becoming weak within Sicarius's grasp as he began to sing the final lyrics to the song.

_You don't need to bother_

_I don't need to be_

_I'll keep slipping farther_

_But once I hold on_

_I won't let go til it bleeds_

By this point, Masako's breathing had completely stopped and her skin had begun to achieve the icy cold that enveloped the dead as her soul left her now energy depleted body. Sicarius cracked.

Silver tears streamed down his face and onto her own as he bent over and kissed her forehead as a symbolism of goodbye. His tears wouldn't stop even as he looked around the room through the unfamiliar blurry vision, and his eyes fell upon a certain man who, as he made the connection, was the cause of all the pain that he, and the others, will feel.

Sicarius gripped the wooden katana at his side and slowly rose, his trench coat rising with him and followed in Sicarius's gait. Sicarius seemed to be completely out of his own mindset as he marched straight toward Danny and his sword dragging along side of him. His face was vacant of all emotion except for the streams of tears that flew down his cheeks like waterfalls.

Sicarius stopped only inches from the lifeless form of Danny, "It's all your fault, you know that?" Sicarius questioned no one in particular and lifted his sword high into the air, "I hate you."

He swung his sword down with full force and felt the sickening crunch as the wood collided with bone and echoed across the room. Sicarius raised his wooden sword and dealt another devastating blow to an already dead opponent. Danny could do, would do, nothing to defend himself against such attacked because he had already died.

Sicarius swung down again, this time sprouting blood from Danny's back like squirting fountain. He repeatedly bludgeoned the dead Danny as he vented, and vented, and vented.

"You caused this!" He yelled. _Crunch, _"You shouldn't have ran!" _Crunch._

"Sicarius!" A male voice broke through the silence in the room and Sicarius immediately felt a pair of strong arms lift him off the ground.

"Let me down!" Sicarius yelled, "Let me go!"

"Sicarius!" Arashi yelled back.

"Let me go!" Sicarius started kicking in the air as he fought Arashi's grip. Soon he felt two more hands press onto his shoulders, and he looked up to be staring straight into Masako's face. She seemed translucent and more as if an angel then the actual being only a few steps away.

"Let go," The angel form of Masako whispered to Sicarius in a tone only an angel could achieve. She slowly leaned forward and gave him a small kiss on the lips and winked in his direction. "I've worked too hard to watch you lose your mind here."

Her voice faded as her apparition slowly disappeared. Sicarius stared wide-eyes at what he previously saw, and, realizing that Arashi was no longer holding on to him, dropped to his knees.

**"MASAKO!"**

**End of Chapter Fifteen**

** Saddest chapter ever! Hope you guys like it! **

**~Lupus**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen Failure of the Dead**

** Author Note: I have this terrible feeling. Like this story has not lived up to my, and my readers, expectations, and due to that I have decided to write as peerless as I can. I have tried to revamp my vocabulary, but still keep the constant flow that I have worked on for so long as I have written for quite a while. So I have decided to begin this with both an apology for my inadequate writing style and a promise. I promise to finish this story with a bang and have you all begging for more when you are done reading a chapter. In addition, if there are any people out there wishing to help me out by being a beta reader for me, I will greatly appreciate it. Goodluck to you all! Hope you enjoy the story.**

_ ~XIII_

**Chapter Sixteen Failure of the Dead**

Sicarius had blacked out shortly after his erratic delirium. His mind had been degrading slowly under the burden he had decided to try and hold high on his own. In one day, two of the people he had tried so hard to protect from the very beginning had been lost to the world that had already taken countless others. He had tried to tie the small bundle of people together with a common goal: to survive. Even then it wasn't enough. He had the ray of shining hope, but at the cost of tainting his hands with blood that should never have been spilled in the first placed. Then the hope was shattered like glass as Masako life had been stolen right out from underneath him. He dreamed of her. She was never smiling in his dreams, but she was never grim. She wore a curious expression as if questioning in her head what Sicarius was going to do now that he had came close to losing his own mind, and, if this is true, she wasn't the only one.

Arashi was the only one still awake after that brutal tragedy, and had even tried to subdue the raging Sicarius; it didn't work, but one moment Sicarius had completely lost it; the next, he had blacked out. Arashi immediately went to the conclusion of emotional overdrive. Sicarius, who had always been the calm, collective member of the group, had finally broken, and, Arashi hoped, he would wake up fine.

He was right.

Sicarius had suffered from an emotional overdrive. Everything he had cared for at the time had shattered right before his eyes like a mirror; he saw the true reflection of the world hidden underneath the false front the mirror had revealed to him so shortly before. Nobody knew what condition he'd be in when he woke up, or if he'd ever wake up within a reasonable amount of time. They'd have to keep moving sometime; with or without their friend.

Arashi had to make sure that no one else was within the small confines of the apartment besides Alexis, Hikari, and Sicarius. Everybody that was had to be dispatched of, and Arashi did this the only way he knew how; threw the window. This way the dead would stay dead, like they were supposed to.

A small groan had elicited itself from Hikari's small mouth as she rubbed the sore spot on her head. She pulled her hand away when it hit a sudden bump on her left temple that shot a burst of pain through her head, like a headache caused by screaming kids. When she looked at her hand blood had already run down her index finger to the middle of her palm.

"Hikari," Arashi's soft tone called out to the younger female as she gazed at her crimson fingers. Her face was blank as her gaze was directed from her fingers to the worried gaze of her comrade.

It must have been a long pause because this time Arashi called her name again with more urgency, "Hikari!"

"Ara…shi," She was definitely out of it. Just saying his name had left her head in a spin. With the dull thump in her head she decided to sit up and somehow relieve herself of the growing pain. This small action only hindered her efforts even more as she fell back down on the soft bed she had been so delicately placed earlier. The soft pillow felt a bit cold to her throbbing head as she took a deep breath and relaxed.

"How are you feeling?" Arashi asked as he walked up to her bedside. She glanced sideways at him for a split-second.

"Like I've been trampled by horde of elephants. My head is killing me," Hikari explained. Arashi chuckled softly as he dipped a rag into some wet water.

"Well next time you'll avoid the elephants, eh?" He chastised playfully as he began to slowly probe her left temple to try and wash off the excess blood. She winced only a few times as he helped clean her up.

"You could have done this while I was unconscious, you know," Hikari complained softly.

"Yes, but that would've been a bit awkward," Arashi chuckled to himself.

"And this isn't?" Hikari responded.

"Well, I suppose it is," Arashi paused for a short moment, "A bit."

"Creep," She glared slightly in his direction.

"Yeah, yeah," Arashi responded simply as he avoided her gaze. When he finished cleaning up her wound he got a second rag, that he placed within the bucket of cool water, and draped it over her forehead, "Keep that there for now. I don't know the severity of your injury, and I guess we won't until Alexis wakes up."

"Why?"

"She used to work with the nurse on her free time."

"Oh."

Silence ensued shortly after as realization dawned on them. Two of their six man group is dead and one had broken, and may stay broken. In addition, one may have a comfort issue, and the other could at worse have a concussion, maybe even a severe concussion.

"Things aren't looking up for us, are they?" Hikari asked as she thought about the issues at hand.

"No they are not," Arashi grimly responded. "What do we do now that this unfortunate event has fallen upon us?"

"We're not giving up are we?" Hikari asked. Arashi could tell her voice was on the verge of breaking.

"Of course not!" Arashi responded with a big grin, "We are survivors! And we survivors survive!"

Arashi offered the biggest grin he could muster as Hikari smiled slightly back, but even she could see right through the grin. Arashi's eyes revealed an entirely different feeling. His eyes had lost all but a just a sliver of hope. With no direction to aim for, and the necessity to move, it'll only be a matter of time before they can go on no longer, and also fall prey to the passing biological virus.

"Arashi. I'm afraid," Hikari stated. "What if we'll never find a way out? What if we are stuck here for the rest of our lives? Will we run in circles, or even all over Japan? What if we are slowly picked off one by one? I don't know what to do."

She had spoken softly, and even through that emotional questioning, her voice hadn't cracked. She was truly afraid, but refused to show weakness. She had her mind set on surviving even if the hope for surviving had diminished in her mind. She was going to survive.

"If we are stuck here for the rest of our lives, then our lives will be pretty short, huh?" He remarked, sarcastically. "We'll keep running and running, and this isn't like an anime. Not one of us can be a hero and expect to come back alive. There are no heroes in this situation, only survivors."

"What about Sicarius?" Hikari questioned. Arashi raised an eyebrow toward her. "Well, I mean, can't we consider him a hero? For everything he's done for us, that is. He helped provide us an organized group to be able to survive such an outbreak."

"He'll always be a hero in my mind," Arashi responded. "And so will you, and Alexis, and Masako, and even Danny in his own way. There's that shining light in all of you that I am inspired by. We want to survive and that's what kept us going for so long. Our combined effort to make sure we ALL survive is what keeps us going. Seeing that fire in your eyes makes me want to survive. It fuels my own fire, and keeps me strong even in the face of hopelessness. So, in my mind, every one of you is a hero, and no matter what happens; even if you fall into the dark, I will always respect you with the highest regard that anyone deserves."

For a moment, Hikari was speechless. Arashi had never really spoken much since he's been within the small survival group, and, for him to spill such a heart-warming speech out into the air like that, was halfway to unbelievable. Hikari thought over what he said for a small moment, and then thought about him. She stole a quick glance at him.

He stood there staring out the window. She watched as his hair seemed to fall formlessly around his shoulders and his, once pure, blue eyes glanced into the sea of the dead. His eyes had lost that life he, and everybody else, once had. Then, she realized that it wasn't good deeds that made a hero. It was the ability to inspire someone else to be like you, and respect you for what you have done. Even if what you did was so little, that it could have been easily overlooked, like telling you not to play hero in order to save yourself instead of giving yourself to _them_.

But Arashi was a hero in his own way as well. Hikari giggled a little bit at the thought. He kind of reminded her of a smartass sidekick.

"What are you laughing at?" The third voice into the conversation was Alexis'. She had woken up quietly while Hikari and Arashi were talking about heroes.

"How are you feeling Alexis?" Arashi asked. Her head was throbbing as well, and she also felt very, very violated.

"I feel like I owe someone a really big thank you," She said quietly. She had never been a huge fan of the quiet, contemplating Sicarius, but she did owe him a thank you for helping her keep her virginity. She laughed slightly at that thought. She also feels slightly bad, although she would never admit it. She saw how Sicarius reacted after he killed Danny, and she feels kind of bad for it.

"Well how are you going to thank him anyway?" Arashi asked, trying to cheer her up, even if he didn't know what caused the sadness in the first place. Alexis glanced over at Sicarius while he slept. Then she looked back at Arashi.

"No clue," Alexis responded. _I wish I had a clue. I hate owing favors._ She thought. The truth was, she didn't know a lot about the mysterious crimson-eyed boy. Only Arashi knew a little about him.

"Arashi," Alexis spoke with a sudden seriousness in her voice that surprised all of the awake members in the room, "I'd like you to do something for me."

"What's that?"

"Tell us about Sicarius," Alexis stated. "I'm sure Hikari would also like to know what kind of man is leading us, and helping us survive. He's wrapped in his own shroud of mystery just like that coat." Arashi's face suddenly turned stern and he glowered at the floor as if he was angry with what he was asked to do. Instead he looked Alexis dead in the eye, then Hikari.

"I know nothing," He said with seriousness that neither girl has ever seen him use. "He may have been my friend when we were in school, but I have never visited his house. I have never seen his parents. I have never heard him talk about his life. I have only heard him contemplate small matters. He is extremely quiet, but he isn't conceited. He seems to give a false impression to everyone, including his cold shoulder he gives everybody. Whenever I asked him on why he always skipped his classes, he always gave me the same response. 'Why take a class that'll get you nowhere?' Don't get me wrong though; he's not dumb. It's as if he already knows everything the school teaches, so he avoids going to class. He is a very mysterious person, for sure," Arashi paused shortly. "But I trust him completely. He has proven time and time again that he will not bail out on us to pursue his own survival. If he's with us 'til the very end, then I am with him 'til the very end. What brought this up anyway Alexis?"

Alexis turned her head to avoid eye contact, "Nothing really, just wondering about a fellow comrade."

Hikari's eyes narrowed as a smirk touched her lips, "Uh-huh."

Alexis whipped on Hikari as slight red crept up her cheeks in embarrassment, "I'm being serious!"

"Okay, okay," Hikari laughed silently to herself.

"Quiet down," Sicarius' voice now joined the trio as he sat up from where he lay. All three of his allies stared over at him. Only one truly knew what had happened after he killed Danny though and he watched Sicarius with a half-worrisome, half-amused gaze. Even after all he went through, Sicarius had kept himself together when he awoke to Alexis' yell. Then he noticed it.

Sicarius' eyes were dull. They were dull before, but they had slowly developed a source of life within them that was slowly bringing Sicarius back to life it seemed. But now, his eyes had lost his previous brightness. They were now a dull crimson, and looking into them were like looking into a demon's stare before it stole a life, then the next connection was made. His eyes didn't lose the dull because he lost Masako, it wasn't something else. He had killed Danny.

Whatever happened to Sicarius' mind, it had evidently shut off Sicarius' feelings. Even his speech was void of emotion. Emotional overload is real it seemed.

"Sicarius," Sicarius' dull eyes concentrated upon Arashi, and Arashi felt a cold shiver run down his spine. If he thought Sicarius' eyes were daggers before, now they're stained by blood, and seemed content with killing again, "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Sicarius' voice was void. His eyes stared straight into Arashi's soul. Alexis and Hikari shared a glance. The tension in the air made Arashi feel like he was walking on ice when he was talking to Sicarius, and made each word seem like a larger boulder being dropped on the ice.

"Sicarius," Hikari had spoken up next. Sicarius' head slowly turned to stare down Hikari's eyes, and she too felt the spike of fear run through her when his cold eyes fell upon her own. Her next words came out as squeaks because she lost her voice by looking into his eyes once. Sicarius also had an aura over him that just radiated danger. It was like walking on eggshells when they talked to Sicarius.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Hikari squeaked out. Sicarius' cold gaze lowered itself onto the bed he sat in. Alexis slowly stood up and sat on his bedside after Arashi stood next to his other side. Sicarius hadn't answered the question he just stared silently at the bed as his comrades slowly encircled him, like predators circling their prey. His eyes seemed to slowly radiate an evil that he had hidden within himself.

"Sicarius?" Alexis voice came next, and this one seemed genuinely worried. Sicarius refused to meet her gaze though, and Alexis caught on to this. She didn't know why he refused, but right now she knew that they needed him. So she grabbed his face and forced him to look into her eyes by rotating his head.

Besides shock, she found such a mix of emotions in them. Normally, by avoiding all emotions he was able to hide his feelings from everybody, even through his eyes, but, because she surprised him, she was able to see the array of feelings shooting through him at the time. He was hurt, confused, and he felt alone. She stared straight into his eyes like she was searching his soul. The distance between the two made it seem like they were going to kiss, especially because if one was pushed it would have been an inevitable event.

But instead she stared straight into his eyes, and he finally broke. She could when he did, even before he actually did. The life returned into his eyes. He closed his eyes and laid his head on her shoulder as he cried softly. She comforted him, even if it was a little awkward for her. Arashi patted his comrade on the back and Hikari gave him a small hug. It was the little things they could do for him that counted.

They stayed like that for the better part of an hour. Sicarius had fallen back asleep on Alexis' shoulder and Arashi had soon taken up his position along the wall. Hikari scoured the kitchen for cooking materials for dinner, and Alexis held Sicarius as she began to doze off slightly as well.

_This is how I'll make it up to him it seems. I'll be there when he needs me to be because we all know we all need our own heroes to keep us going._

She smiled lightly to herself after her train of thought. She'll believe in heroes for once. Especially now.

**End of Chapter Sixteen**

** Thank you for reading this chapter. If you wish to know in Chapter Two Sicarius tells Hikari to not save three people because being a hero means nothing if you die. So I was using my past writing to add something to this chapter. Remember to **

**REVIEW or PM what you think and remember the Beta Readers idea I'll greatly appreciate your guys thoughts on this chapter compared to others including grammer, punctuation, plot, and all that good story stuff **

**~XIII**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

** Hello all! I am planning on rewriting the first few chapters. Don't worry it won't take me long promise! Well remember to REVIEW and I have a new request. I'd like for all of you to PM where you'd like this story to go. I'd really like to receive feedback on this topic and I'd like for this story to appeal to my entire audience. Do not be afraid either, I will respond to all PMs and offer my own reasons. I'm here for open criticism and open discussion. Thank you.**

** ~Lupus**

**Now on to the story :)**

**Chapter Seventeen Broken in the Dead**

"_You better watch out, look out._

_It's riding your footsteps._

_Watch out, right now._

_It's breathing on your neck."_

The days passed slowly and the nights passed slower like a snail in a cornfield. The nights began to stretch out as the winter season was making its most dreaded appearance. Christmas was quickly approaching, but this time there was no spirit. No expected visits from the jolly, fat man that would come sliding down the chimney. No warm fires to sit by and share with a loved one. Nothing of the kind. The world's kindness had slipped away like a thief in the night with a bag of precious jewelry. For some though, the kindness in the world had slipped away long before the apocalypse that swallowed the entire world had started. The world had grown as silent as the night on most days, with only the occasional rustling of the wind to interrupt the stressful silence.

The birds no longer chirped. Dogs never barked. Silence had taken on a whole new meaning, and the meaning was no less pleasant.

The group had slowly situated themselves into the situation they were in by dividing up the tasks amongst themselves. Sicarius participated in the small tasks, but he was never sent outside the hotel. His mind had never fully repaired itself after his murder of Danny and having Masako die in his arms. The rest of the group knew that Sicarius's mind set was teeter-tottering on crazy and they took turns trying to help him return to normal, although they were barely successful. Sicarius's mind seemed to be trapped forever in the void it created for itself. Alexis was mostly in charge of trying to nurse him back to health, but nursing a patience with a mental injury was much more difficult than nursing a patience with a physical injury.

Sicarius wasn't lost from them, and they all knew it; but they also knew that it would take a while to get Sicarius back to his normal state, whatever that was. They also knew they couldn't just sit around and wait for him, and they small tasks such as running to a nearby store for food and drinks.

Arashi over the last couple of days had turned the kitchen into a war room. The three members of the group whose minds hadn't crashed would meet up in the kitchen, where a large map of the city was laid out across the table. The map was marked with multiple colors, symbols and letters that symbolized different paths, different types of stores and what was in them. Arashi spent one full day devising the map while he left Hikari and Alexis at the hotel to watch over Sicarius. He of course succeeded without becoming infected because he is still around.

"Hikari, Alexis," Arashi's voice had the source of seriousness in it that only came around once in a while when something really important needed to be done. Hikari looked up from her position on the couch. While Alexis walked in from the bedroom door where Sicarius was lying, probably listening as well.

"What is it?" Alexis asked as she stood in the doorway. Hikari was an eyebrow at Arashi in question as well.

"It's time to delve deeper into the city, and I know exactly where to go," Arashi stated matter-of-factly. Arashi motioned for them to come to the table and look down at the large map. Alexis and Hikari followed without question and looked over the map as they waited for Arashi to begin his presentation.

"Alright," Arashi began. "We have three points that we're going to need to walk to today," he pointed to three different spots of the map as he named them aloud, "Delta-13, Foxtrot-7, and Golf-1."

Alexis understood him somewhat, but Hikari just stared at him blankly. "Could you repeat that?" She asked blankly.

Arashi sighed to himself, "I have labeled the map with military checkpoints. Delta, Foxtrot, Mike, Golf, and Hotel."

"Why?" Hikari questioned.

"Just in case we get ambushed by other, less friendly, survivors," Arashi responded with a triumphant grin on his face, "This way they won't know what it means. Great idea right?"

"No," Hikari responded bluntly. Arashi deflated like a balloon. It was quite a sight to see actually with Arashi in a slight depressed phase that both females knew wouldn't last long.

"Well, I believe it was a great idea," Arashi pouted in return. "A fantastic idea. Actually, _so _fantastic that it should be named after the _fantastic _person who made it."

"Uh-huh," Alexis responded, unconvinced, "What'll be named then? Alpha Moron?"

"So cruel..." Arashi whispered to himself. He then put on a more serious mask, as it were, and turned to them. "But do you guys actually understand it, or do I need to repeat myself?"

"You never exactly went over it, moron," Alexis stated with a dull tone to her voice.

"I didn't?" Arashi questioned mainly to himself. "Then I guess I'll have to then!"

"You just love hearing yourself talk, don't you?"

Arashi simply shrugged it off nonchalantly. "We'll raid Delta and Foxtrot first. That'll be our food and drinks maybe some supplies as well. Afterward we'll head north to Golf. I did some scouting earlier and found this store about a mile and a half from here. This is a gun store called 'Randy's'. I've heard of it before from my dad before all this actually started. He told me he'd take me to get a pistol when I was older, as a self-defense measure, but I guess it never happened."

Alexis and Hikari suddenly felt kind of bad for Arashi. Arashi never talked about his parents much, and when he did, he never brought them up in bad light. His own self-pity didn't last long though as he continued.

"I've done my own calculations on this matter and I don't believe that using a gun will harm us tremendously. I'm aware that they'll make way more noise, than what we normally intend, but the damage they'll be able to do will be way more useful, say if we have to escape from a bad situation."

The tone of his voice was pointing out a time that was rarely brought up. The warehouse was a time when all six of their allies still survived, and were not afraid of losing the other. Now though, after two deaths that are still fresh in their minds, the group is afraid of letting each other out of their own sight for more than an hour, at the most.

"Sicarius will have to be informed of this plan beforehand, right?" Alexis questioned.

"That is where you come in," Arashi stated confidently. "He'll probably take the news from you way easier than he would from the rest of us. You'll just have to make sure that his….fragile mind….. won't fall apart."

"So that's my job, eh?" Alexis didn't sound or look pleased. She was a nurse for the most part, but the care of a patient with a mental injury was way more difficult than if the patient had a physical injury. Alexis was beginning to stress her own self to an extent as she tried to help her friend past this very troubling time.

"Yes. Can you handle it?" Arashi asked; worry sprung into his voice.

"Of course I can Alpha Moron," Alexis stated. Arashi winced at his newly given nickname.

"Do you really have to use that nickname?" Arashi questioned with a slight whimper.

"Of course, _Alpha Moron_," Alexis repeated the nickname with extra emphasis on the nickname. There seemed to be tension between them as they both gave each other glares. The tension only lasted a few seconds though.

"Guys," Hikari's voice split the tension like a knife through butter. "We better get ready."

"Agreed," They both said simultaneously. Hikari nodded with a slight smile before heading off into her room that branched off from the kitchen. Alexis stole a glance at Hikari before leaving the kitchen as well to visit Sicarius and tell him the new plan. Arashi melted into a seat.

"The stress is getting to us all," He whispered to no one in particular. "Let's hope we can all stick together through this entire experience. I'm tired of seeing my friends die."

Hikari was evidently thinking the same thing as she strolled into her bedroom. She quietly shut the door behind her and did a face plant onto her bed before rolling over and looking up at the ceiling.

"God help us all," She whispered to herself. "Who am I kidding? God abandoned us a long time ago."

She got off the bed just as quickly as she got on and locked the bedroom door. She walked in front of a mirror with a new pair of clothes in her hands, "I thought I'd be hiding from you," The reflection just seemed to smile as Hikari slightly laughed to herself. "You are one of the last people I want to see now. The way your smile feigns happiness, the way your body feigns beauty, the way your eyes reveal everything; you're just a bunch of scars. It looks like your luck has ran out, just as our luck is beginning to spiral down. Is this luck though? Can we honestly say that this is what we will become? I could probably break you, just as easily as I can break myself. I could shatter this mirror, I could shatter everything I've began to hate just as easily as you can bring it all back, but what's the point of breaking something that doesn't remain broken? Is there even an escape from this never ending madness? I can think of one," Hikari slowly unbuttoned her school blouse and reached for a vest. "It's not the way that I want to go, but is it the fate that we all deserve? So many questions that will forever remain unanswered," She gazed down at her topless body. "These scars will be scars I could never hide. The scars of wounds, the scars of battle. But," She placed a hand right above her left breast. "This is a scar that'll remain forever, but can remain hidden. Just practice smiling in a mirror and the world won't come crumbling down. We'll all survive with a smile on our face," She looked at her reflection's face and forced a smile. "See. There's nothing wrong anymore. Now it's your turn. Smile and we'll all be okay.

"Smile and nothing wrong will ever happen. Smile and we will all be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel again. Smile and the world will be able to turn and we can put these events behind us and move on. We'll see mother and father again, and we will be able to smile for real," Hikari put on a bra and a vest and covered her eyes with the palms of her hands. "There is a person I want to be. I want to be the heroes around me. I want to be able to do something for this group besides be dead weight. Is there anything I can do? Can I do anything that'll benefit my _family_? Or will I always remain the damsel in distress?" Hikari loosened the buttons on her skirt before letting it drop to the floor and switching to a pair of comfortable blue shorts. "I hope not," She whispered the last few words to herself before throwing on a quick pair of thigh high striped socks and her old tennis shoes. "Looks like I can't change everything about my appearance."

She laughed casually at her reflection, "But it does look like I can change."

It was a light hearted comment that not many would be able to make in such a situation, but she had made it nonetheless. It was not uncommon to try and cope with oneself even if the only way to cope was to carry on a conversation with their own selves in order to answer the questions they knew they had the answer to. It takes time. A lot of time.

This theory does not apply just to Hikari, but also to Sicarius. Alexis knows that coping with all the stress that has been thrust upon his shoulders will be one of the most difficult things Sicarius will every try and pull off. Not everybody kills an old friend and then has another die in their arms. Alexis stared down at her friend silently as she contemplated her predicament. A tedious question burrowed through her thoughts and straight into her mind as she tried to find out how to pass the news onto Sicarius that everyone was leaving for most of the day.

Normally, one member of their small group was left with Sicarius to be kind of a watcher and company at the same time if he ever felt like talking. As of this moment though, he hadn't uttered a word besides the occasional greeting and one word response when asked a question. He never started conversation and never delved deep into his own emotions when it came to any form of an opinion. It felt like he was a recording system meant to spit out what they wanted to hear and nothing more.

"Hey Sicarius," Alexis said as she decided it was time to get the ball rolling on this conversation. Sicarius just nodded to her in greeting. "There's something big I have to tell you."

Sicarius raised an eyebrow quizzically at her now and grew rigid in the bed, obviously prepared for the worse.

"It's nothing that terrible, so you can relax," Alexis cautioned. Sicarius's body language gave away that he refused to relax. Alexis sighed and sat at his bedside, but never looked at him. Instead she chose the view provided by the window as a better place to look out at. "We won't be gone long this time. We're just getting some more supplies," She prevaricated slightly.

"Who'll play watchdog this time?" Sicarius's snide comment stung her like a needle. Alexis winced sharply before continuing her calm and monotonous tone.

"No one I'm afraid," Alexis felt like she was trading on thin ice at this point. Sicarius always seemed a little off from the beginning, but now he just seemed like he was dying to stain something red as revenge for those who deserved it, or didn't. "We won't be gone long, I promise." She stood up and made for the doorway. "Please, just remain safe."

"I will."

Alexis couldn't take much of Sicarius's stress. He had so much on his shoulders that he seemed like he was ready to fall apart at any moment. His comments became snarky and his body disheveled. He no longer made for sanitation unless it was absolutely necessary and he never ever tried watching what he said anymore when he spoke. It was like Sicarius had all his emotions burst out of him at once and his body locked down. It wouldn't be surprising if that was what actually happened.

"Alexis are you ready to go?" Hikari asked from the table. Arashi shrugged as Alexis cast a sidewise glance at him.

"I'm ready. We should get going," Hikari nodded as she brandished the twin kitchen knives provided unwillingly by Danny. She motioned to Masako's fire ax in the corner of the kitchen.

"It's yours now," Hikari said. "We both have our weapons of choice, but you still need something that you can defend yourself with that's not the knife that you fit in your pocket."

"I know," Alexis responded and walked over to the corner of the room and retrieved the fire ax. The weapon carried a different weight to it that hadn't seemed to be there before. Arashi was already heading for the door with a map in his pocket as Alexis had positioned the fire ax in her hands to match her style of movement a little easier.

Hikari followed suit and motioned for Alexis to hurry along. Alexis obliged and hurriedly exited the room as Arashi held the door open for the pair.

"A true gentlemen," Alexis taunted. Arashi rolled his eyes before silently closing the door behind them. With a soft click, the trio had disappeared down the hallway, moving silently but quickly. Within a few moments that had exited the hotel and were traveling with space in between each one. They had figured out, after a couple of mistakes, that traveling with an allotted space between each other kept them from causing near death experiences, or just made them less likely.

The first stop went quick. They breezed into the small gas station and ransacked the frozen drink area for a couple of sodas and energy drinks along with a few of the not dirty food. They were all stuffed into gym bags and the trio was out of the gas station as fast as they could.

"Next stop is Food right?" Alexis questioned as they made their way down the road.

"Ye—"

"It's Foxtrot," Arashi hissed in Alexis's general direction. Alexis rolled her eyes. The problem with the way they moved was that Arashi was placed in the center of the group, which meant he could nag both sides as they walked down the road and listen into conversations as they happened between the two ladies. But it also meant that he had the ability to protect either one. By being the dominant fighter having him in the center as they moved was very helpful, even if he was kind of annoying.

Alexis bit her tongue and kept herself from releasing all hell on Arashi. _There's a time and a place for everything. This is neither the time nor the place._ She thought. _But there will be a time and place. _Alexis smirked to herself as she thought of all the torture she could drag Arashi through just for being annoying. She was actually too deep into her thoughts that she didn't see she was running into a building.

The next thing Hikari heard was Arashi's stifled laughter as he stopped moving. Hikari stopped moving too and wandered over to Arashi as he tried to contain himself for his much concerned survival.

"What happened?" Hikari questioned with a curious glance at Arashi's face. Arashi just made a couple of incoherent hand gestures that went right over Hikari's head.

"It's not funny," Alexis started. Hikari turned around to see Alexis with a small gash wound down her nose.

"Oh my god! Are you okay? What happened?" Hikari questioned. Arashi was still trying to maintain his laughter before all three of them got killed.

"She ran into the building," Arashi choked out between his laughter. Hikari looked at Alexis as her mind made the connection and immediately through a hand up to her mouth to stifle her own laughter. Alexis just glared and took a deep breath.

"Here," Arashi handed her a frozen drink. "Use this for your nose."

Alexis took it with a mumbled 'thanks' before placing the drink onto her nose. "Are we going to keep moving? Or will you two sit around and laugh all day?"

"Alright, alright," Hikari surrendered. "Let's keep going."

The second stop was almost as fast as the first. They just gathered some cereal, some bread, and a few snack cakes along with some ice cream for the road.

"On to the third one now?" Alexis asked as she finished her ice cream.

"Of course," Arashi stated. "This is going pretty smoothly too."

Hikari smiled. She liked it better when these types of outings went by quickly. She always felt safer in the hotel than she did on the road, but she knew the road was necessary, and the hotel was only a refuge for now.

"Let's get moving again."

Sicarius slowly shifted his weight to his feet as he swung them over the bed and stood up. He hadn't stood in a while; it felt refreshing, but his mind was still partly gone. Sicarius shuffled across the room and donned his trench coat. He began to feel way more comfortable wearing the trench coat than he did when he was forced to go without it. He didn't understand why Alexis made him take it off. He had no physical injuries that he could think of.

He wandered into the kitchen where he saw the 'war plan' sprawled out across the table. Sicarius meandered over to it before peering down at it.

There were multiple markings all over the map to symbolize places that his friends had ransacked and places that were being targeted, or were known just not targeted. Sicarius ran his thumb and index finger over the map following the lines made by Arashi the night before as Arashi thought up where to go.

_He obviously put a lot of thought into this_. Sicarius concluded as he found all the etchings and crosses that symbolizes faulty places, where some would be safe and others not. Where people might have gathered at the beginning and thus have the densest population in the area. What places will offer food, and which ones would offer drinks, which he not-so-cleverly tried disguising as military terms.

Sicarius smiled lightly at this, but as soon as the smile appeared on his face it was replaced. His face contorted in confusion as he gazed upon Golf-1. A gun store it seemed, but why would he target a gun store. Especially the only one in town.

Sicarius's eyes widened as his mind came to a conclusion. He was out of the hotel faster than he ever thought possible.

"Cautious," Arashi warned as he slowly approached the gun store. The two females followed behind him. "We'll go in there get a few guns and get out."

The gun store had seemed to be attacked by feral beasts. The windows that displayed some of the guns had been broken. The door was thrown off its hinges and was hanging ajar. There were blood stains all over of ground and accompanied with glass.

"Arashi," Hikari's voice cracked slightly. Arashi gulped.

He took a couple of steps forward and slid into the store. His shoes shattered the glass as he slowly stepped across the room. His defenses lowered when he found out that no one was around, but not completely. He heard the cracking of glass and glanced over his shoulder to find Alexis and Hikari ducking underneath the door to follow Arashi into the building.

"Watch the door for me," Arashi commanded as he swerved around the different broken cabinets and shattered glass panes to find any guns that could have been left over after a midnight raid. Alexis and Hikari both took different positions near the door and leveled their weapons into a defensive posture. Arashi was getting frustrated.

All he had managed to find was a pistol with about five rounds. He kept looking, but found nothing.

"Don't move young man," The voice stung Arashi's ears like a bee. His head shot up to find a couple of slimy men holding Alexis and Hikari hostage. Arashi held up his hands in surrender as he eyed the men cautiously. He slightly kicked the gun under the desk. They seemed to have enough anyway.

"So did we find a good one?" A man asked from outside.

"Two actually Jeff," The slimy man in the center of the two girls said as he caressed Hikari's cheek. Arashi's temper flared.

Arashi knew though that he had to think cautiously though. By charging head-in he would probably lose his life, and the girls wouldn't be very well off either. Arashi glared at the floor his bo staff was near his foot and there was a large piece of shattered glass a couple of paces ahead of him. He slowly began inching his foot toward his bo staff.

"Take them outside," The man's eye held a certain mischievous glint as he turned to Arashi, but he was not expecting Arashi's speed.

Arashi kicked the bo staff up and caught it in his hands. His left hand caught the end of the staff and his right ended up near the center. He threw the staff through the air in a horizontal linedrive. The man barely ducked out of the way as the staff whizzed over his head and went through the nearby wall. By the time the man turned around it was already too late. The man had no glint left in his eye as a trickle of blood ran down his chin. The man fell back without a word of protest. Arashi didn't have time to react before he was clubbed on the back of his head and all went black.

Sicarius ran as fast as his legs could carry him and stopped only when he made it to the gun store. There was nothing around the store.

He ducked underneath the door and immediately recoiled. A man was lying face up in the gun store. Blood trickled down his chin and a piece of glass was lodged between his ribs. He was attacked, and left to die. Sicarius continued searching and found Arashi's staff lodged into the wall.

"Maybe there are leftovers?" A man asked as he approached the gun store.

"Not our business. We are to retrieve the body and bring him back to base."

Sicarius ducked behind the counter as two men walked into the gun store. They heaved the body onto their shoulders and dragged him outside. Sicarius followed silently.

Wherever they were going. Wherever they were heading. He had a feeling that his friends would be there.

_**END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**_

**Don't forget to R&R and send me a PM with what you want to happen next. Thank you~**

_XIII_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen Duels in the Dead**

"_I came to save you. Not to help you survive."_

_ ~Unknown_

Sicarius waited quietly behind the wooden countertop that obstructed his view of the two men that came into the gun shop to recover what seemed like a fallen ally. He listened intently to the men's not-so-discreet movements as they shuffled around the dead body.

"We'll have to be careful," The first man pointed out as reached down toward the body. He was blocked by a small motion by the other. "What?"

"I'm not taking any risks," The man defended as he lifted what looked like an assault rifle into the air. Sicarius immediately took note of the man's stance. It was not an amateur stance. His legs were bent perfectly as the gun was held near the barrel. His movement was swift and precise as he brought the gun down with a smashing technique that collided with the dead man's skull and split it like a watermelon. Sicarius ducked back behind the countertop and took a long deep breath.

The two men acted as if nothing had just taken place and decided that it was best to move on. They each lifted one of the, now headless, man's arms and placed them over the appropriate shoulders. Sicarius decided that, if the blood stains would help any, he didn't have to leave at that exact moment as the men dragged the man outside of the gun shop.

Sicarius waited a few seconds to search around the gun store quickly before silently stalking the two men to their final destination.

-x-

He had picked up a few of the small little tidbits of information that the two men shared unknowingly to the third party that shadowed them down the road. Sicarius had done pretty well stalking the two men. He avoided all of _them_ as best as he could. He knew that he'd have to hold on to his strength to be able to get Arashi, Alexis, and Hikari out of this situation alive, so he decided to take it slow and traverse the easier paths, but still keep on the following them. For the most part though, these two people knew the safe routes pretty well as they scurried through deserted homes, side alleys and streets, and even small markets. Sicarius was beginning to doubt if they were even going the correct way after about fifteen minutes of straight walking, but he was proven wrong as an edifice came into sight.

He knew, based on a gut feeling, that this was where the two men were heading. The place had a very professional feel and it was an accurate guess when Sicarius assumed it used to be owned by a rather large company. But seeing the building now, it just reminded him of what a ghost town would look like. The windows were shattered especially along the first ten or so floors. It was obvious that this place was a venue for dominance, and it was no surprise that these guys had come out dominant. The building was a rare source of refuge in the city, especially at the time that all this had begun, and the only other place that probably had more people stationed inside of it was probably the police station.

The two men marched right into the building and left the body lying in the lobby as they walked up to a muscular man standing in front of the elevator. A few words were exchanged between the duo and the man before the man stepped aside and allowed the two into the elevator. Only when the elevator door shut did Sicarius finally begin formulating a plan. He had remained outside, under the cover of a wall that proved to be quite useful. He peered over the wall slightly and took in his surroundings.

The lobby within the business center was not all that decorative. Maybe it was before this had started. There was obviously a bar located along the right hand wall even if the glass cabinets had been shattered and the stools had been thrown to opposite sides of the room, and blood and glass stained the floor like a terrible rash. Sicarius grimaced slightly at the thought, _how many men died in order to take this place?_

Sicarius pushed the thought from his mind and looked for where the man's blind spots. The man simply stared straight ahead as if he was simply a statue. It was kind of disturbing.

Sicarius leapt into the edifice and silently hid behind the bar. _So far, so good._ He thought. He peered around the corner to find that he was closer to the man's blind spot than he was before. The blind spot was a small pool table that was placed to the right of the man that was set up as if prepared for a new game.

"This is much more difficult without anybody watching your back," Sicarius muttered to himself as he peered over the bar toward the statue of a man. The man made no reaction that warranted a response from Sicarius, and Sicarius slowly lowered himself behind the bar again as he palmed his left hip for the solid object and contemplated on whether or not using it will help him in this case. The urge was tempting, but Sicarius bit it back and tried to think of a way to close the distance between him and the guard without raising too much attention. He closed his eyes slowly as his mind surveyed the surroundings he had seen earlier.

The pool table was just out of his reach, about 10 meters to his right. The exit would be the only possible way of moving without a 100% chance of being caught and found, but that wasn't a possibility seeing as that he needed to save his friends from whatever disaster they may be in, _if they're even here_. Sicarius thought. He took a quick glance around the dusty space behind the bar for anything they may be used as a distraction for the guard in front of the elevator. The white cue ball for the pool table was staring Sicarius in the eye as it remained motionless in a pile of glass and debris a few feet to his left. Immediately, Sicarius picked up.

He silently prayed to the heavens as he threw the cue ball over his shoulder toward the other side of the room. The wall knocked when the ball connected with its surface and the guard's eyes shifted to the opposite side of the room, just enough time for Sicarius to capitalize. Sicarius leapt from his hiding place and immediately through his wooden katana aiming for a few more seconds in distraction. The man leaned away from the wooden katana, but his eyes drifted from his assailant; Sicarius grinned. He ran up to the man quickly and stepped on his foot in mid-sprint. The man recoiled as he tried to his free his foot from the vice-grip Sicarius's had on it. Sicarius pushed off the ground with his right foot and pushed off the man's knee with his left before connecting a well-placed cross to the man's left temple with his returning right foot, rendering his opponent unconscious in a matter of seconds.

Sicarius bowed down to pick up his katana before moving into the elevator, but froze when he entered.

"Shit!" He cursed to himself. "What floor?"

There were 36 floors to this building, and Sicarius had nowhere to start. _Instincts Sicarius, _He thought. _Where would you be?... Top floor_. Sicarius tapped the number for floor 36 and waited as the elevator began its trek up the numerous number of floors that made their presence known at this moment in time. The elevator seemed to take hours to climb the required floors as Sicarius began to lose his patience with the amount of time the elevator was taking as it made its slow climb. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the elevator made the signal beep that it reached its destination and the doors slowly opened to reveal the top floor of the large building. Sicarius took this chance the moment the door was open and bolted from the elevator and ran through the halls. He took small glances into different rooms as he raced through the halls, but he also paid close attention to the layout of the floor. Most likely, the rest of the floors look the same too.

Sicarius checked everyone room before rushing down the steps to floor 35 and continued his search. He only stopped on floor 32 when he heard a scream. A feminine scream that sounded like it came from much farther below. Sicarius cursed as he dashed down a few flights of steps before turning onto floor 29 and rushing through the halls. His crimson eyes scanned the halls and his silver hair flowed dangerously behind him. He only encountered one person on that floor, and it wasn't an ally. Sicarius unleashed a horizontal slash that knocked the man far from the floor. The man was probably dead in the first attack that Sicarius dealt to him in mid-sprint. The man didn't get back up; at least Sicarius hoped he didn't because he already clambered down to floor 28 by the time the man would've had the time to recover from a facial disorganizer such as that.

Sicarius gripped the corner as he ripped through the wind to turn the corner. Just then he heard a loud crash that rang out from right underneath him. Sicarius spun back toward the staircase and burst through the doors. He took a right only to find two people walking up the steps, and obviously surprised to see a man dashing through the upper floors. Their eyes didn't do well in concealing their shock and fear, but Sicarius never slowed as he turned the corner to move down the steps the pair was walking up. Sicarius pounced them without a second thought and pushed both onto their chests at the bottom of the flight up steps before placing a punch between their eyes and jumping down to floor 27 and bursting through the door the moment another loud crash sounded across the floor through a room. The tension on the floor made Sicarius slow down and pace himself as he stalked his way down the corridor that was obviously a source of a fight. Sicarius stopped right near a room that he heard voices coming through.

"No who you are challenging next time," A cold voice stated as a chair was pulled out and a man sat down into it. "Any other objections?"

"Arashi!" Sicarius's eyes widened when he heard Hikari's voice within the room.

"Stay put," The man commanded with icy steel to his voice which even chilled Sicarius's spine. "We have a guest outside, and we don't want to keep them waiting now do we?" Sicarius didn't like the man's voice one bit, it had the steel of a hardened commander, and the slickness of a coward that was ready to abandon his friend, the voice of insanity. The room fell deathly quiet as they awaited Sicarius's entrance. Sicarius took a deep breath and slowly entered the room as he put his emotions into lockdown. In the room, Alexis and Hikari were perfectly fine except for a few old, scattered bruises across their bodies; Arashi was different though. He was bleeding through a gash in his forehead, and had newer bruises, and looked like he had just gotten into a really bad fight, which may have been the loud crash from earlier. Other than those three, there were five members in the room that Sicarius did not recognize, and four were pointing guns at him; along the wall were an assortment of rifles and ammunition containers, and a man sat a desk with his arms crossed and a slimy grin on his face as he eyed Sicarius with a look of curiosity.

"Sicarius!" Alexis yelled when she saw him.

"Hello there," the man said with a hint of amusement lingering in his voice. Sicarius returned his curious glare with a menacing one. "You must be a friend of theirs'." It wasn't a question. The man knew the answer and he was trying to toy with Sicarius's mind.

"Why'd you come?! You—I can't even begin to explain how pissed off I am with you for coming here!" Alexis raged at Sicarius who just looked at her with absolutely no expression on his face. She froze and stared at him suddenly scared of what has happened to him psychologically because of this. Sicarius turned his gaze back toward the man in the center of the room once again.

"Let them go," Sicarius's voice was like ice and his stance was just proof of that when he lifted his wooden katana and pointed it menacingly at the man behind the desk. His friends watched in both awe and horror at how different Sicarius sounded, and how scary the aura he radiated from his body was. This isn't good. Immediately after the threat, the four men retaliated by lifted their guns at Sicarius although they too were shaking slightly. The only man who seemed unfazed was the one at the desk; his smug smile never fell from his face.

"Sicarius, is it?" The man asked as if he was testing the name out with a playful smile tugging at his lips. "Lower your weapons please. We have a guest." The four men hesitated before slowly lowering their weapons, but their eyes never left Sicarius, just in case he was to attack in an un-honorable fashion, then again there isn't anything honorable about an apocalypse.

"I have a feeling this can turn out fun," The man claimed as he hoisted himself from the desk. "And I had just sat down to." The man pouted sarcastically. "A survivor with a thirst for blood, this can most definitely turn interesting."

"What do you want?" Sicarius questioned without a hint of emotion lacing his voice. Sicarius seemed to be an empty shell at that moment, but everyone knew different. They could sense the hatred that radiated off his body as he stood in a calm demeanor.

"A duel," the man stated without losing stride. "The same bet I offered your friend here. If you win, you get your friends back, and you'll be allowed to leave, no questions asked by anybody."

"And if I lose?"

"Well if you lose, you won't be around long enough to know what happens."

Sicarius knew what this meant, a battle to the death. Which would mean Sicarius is at an immediate disadvantage, seeing as he doesn't have a lethal hack-and-slash weapon and the other man obviously did. The other man carried a full-length steel katana, and obviously knew how to use it if the fight between him and Arashi turned sour that fast.

"Ready."

Sicarius rooted his position. He knew his defense had been severely weakened by the presence of the steel katana, but he did not know the man's speed or agility, but judging by the way the four guards were smirking, he was good.

"Set."

Sicarius looked into the eyes of his friends one last time before settling his gaze upon the man in front of him as he shifted into an offensive position.

"Go."

Sicarius shifted into a mobile position the moment he said go and had just enough time to spare as the man through his sword at Sicarius with blindingly fast speed. Sicarius spun to the left to avoid the sword and was not ready for the man's extremely quick reflexes as the man was already on him by the time he completely the 360 spin. Sicarius pushed off the ground while using the moment of his spin to spin again in the air, this time bringing the sword down in a strong overhead arc that the man deflected with his right wrist, before reaching out with a punch with his left. Sicarius sidestepped the punch before jumping out of the man's reaching distance.

_The attack didn't faze him at all. His wrist took the full force of my attack as well. _Sicarius thought he reevaluated the opponent in front of him.

"Very athletic," The man commented. "Not only is your agility very impressive, but your reaction timing is even more so." The man leaned toward the left before darting in toward Sicarius's right. The man kept his wrist a defensive distance from Sicarius's attack this time as he aimed a punch right for Sicarius's right temple. Sicarius ducked at the last second and aimed a kick right into the man's exposed abdomen. The man's right wrist shot out again and absorbed the kick as the man pushed off Sicarius's foot, steel katana in hand.

_He's fast. His reaction timing is much better than I would have expected, but he seems to be going easy. Why?... testing me. _Sicarius concluded his synopsis and prepared himself for the man's next attack, but was caught off guard by the man's stance. The stance was strong, but had obvious flaws, balanced but lopsided; a truly insane stance. Sicarius suddenly felt fearful of his life he was watched the man slowly begin his attack.

The attack came fast and Sicarius ducked underneath the horizontal slash of his opponent as he spun in a counterclockwise circle and tried connecting his sword to the man's left ribcage. The man's steel katana met his wooden one and deflected the attack to the left. Sicarius dropped farther down to try and kick the man back, as he did last time. The man's right wrist shot out and caught Sicarius's incoming foot, but instead of jumping back the man used the momentum of the kick to jump into the air. The man performed a front flip above Sicarius before bringing his sword down in overhead vertical arc that struck the ground with an immense amount of force. Sicarius barely rolled to the left in order to dodge the man's fast counter attack.

To say the least, Sicarius was stunned. The man's reaction timing was inhuman, and his skill with the blade made it seem like he was swinging around a foam sword. Sicarius got to his feet the moment he could to avoid remaining on the floor for too long. This was a fight for survival now, and having your back against the floor was about the worst way to survive any fight. He sidestepped another vertical slash as the man pushed him toward the left over and over again until he was against the man's desk. The man swung horizontally this time, and Sicarius bent backward to avoid having his eyes cut through and remain blinded for the rest of his life. Sicarius saw the next vertical slash coming and rolled backward over the man's desk before landing on the man's chair. The man's chair rolled backward until Sicarius caught his balance. The glass windows behind him were enough of a warning to get his ass into the fight. Sicarius batted away a horizontal slash toward his knees and then they were in a deadlock. The attacks were coming from every which angle as Sicarius defended and filled in his own attack when he could.

_Horizontal Left. Diagonal Right. Vertical Left. From below. From above._

Sicarius weaved in and out of the attacks as he through attacks in which the man deflected with his wrist. The man spun in a circle and aimed an attack at Sicarius's head, which the silver haired man easily ducked under. Immediately following though, the man dropped to one knee and spun again, this time aiming for Sicarius's knees. Sicarius leapt into the air and did a front flip overhead slash as he had seen before. The man jumped back and onto his table as he barely avoided the copy.

Alexis and Hikari watched in awe. Sicarius was a good idea and they had no idea that this hid underneath that interior that had been presented to them this entire time. His eyes revealed nothing, which kept them, and likely his opponent, guessing on his next move. This sword fight was turning out like a poker game gone wrong.

"I'll admit you're good, but this is where it ends now, Sicarius," the man leapt from the table and did a twist in the air. Sicarius ducked underneath the horizontal slash and blocked the man's diagonal one when he landed. Sicarius kept dodging when he could and blocked when he couldn't, there was no room for attack. Sicarius's sword was barely gone for a second before the man did something unsuspecting. He did a frontward kick that sent Sicarius sprawling backward. Sicarius regained his balance in time to deflect an incoming thrust to the side which grazed his cheek, but it was too late. The man kicked Sicarius again, this time with a lot more force and the red eyed man was thrown backward by the force of the kick.

Sicarius felt razor sharp pain pierce his back as he felt the glass behind him crumble away. Sicarius had been pushed through the glass window. The glass punctured his back like an icy spear and Sicarius felt the blood rush from his body as the glass sustained the red glare. Then he felt nothing. There was no ground beneath him as he fell through the sky and the 27 floors that were between him and the ground. The world began to revolve in slow motion as the pain numbed in his back as he felt the world slowly turn away. He felt a couple of soft things cushion him as the impact was made farther away in time, until his consciousness slowly returned when his back slammed into the open ground.

Sicarius's eyes shot open when the excruciating pain racked his body. Glass buried itself in his body like a dog buries its bone. Sicarius felt the embedded glass slowly eat away at his senses and he felt his body to tense up in fear of the additional pain. Sicarius knew he was still alive at that moment though, although he partly wished he hadn't been. The pain tore a hole through Sicarius's awareness and his mind was thrown into a loop.

_Is this how you felt Masako? Is this pain that I'm feeling equivalent to the one that you felt? How about you Danny? Is this worse than the pain of knowing that you could have done nothing to save your friends when they most desperately needed the saving? _Sicarius felt the world slowly fade as he closed his eyes for what seemed like would be an eternity.

xxxx

_Sicarius felt like he was floating on nothing. The world around him was white although he couldn't open his eyes. He heard two voices that seemed to hover just above him as they spoke._

_ "Hello Sicarius," It was Masako's voice. "I'm glad to see you again, although it is a little sooner, and a little more sorrowful than I would've hoped for. I know you can't see us Sicarius, but me and Danny here, we miss you. We miss you very much, but we don't want to see you right now."_

Why?

_ "Silly goose," Masako giggled. "We don't want your time to be up. We cared for you too much then to see you here with us." She placed a hand on his forehead._

_ "Yeah," Danny's voice was heard next, without the maniacal jingle to it. "Besides, we need you to save our friends. You have a job to do as their friend and ours bud." Danny joked. "Don't worry, Masako is yours, I don't plan on taking her anyway, too upbeat for me."_

_ "Sicarius, don't make the same mistakes we did." Masako stated. "Save your friends before it's too late."_

I—I don't know if I can.

_"Of course you can, silly goose," Masako whispered. "If you don't, I'll never forgive you. Save them and let them move on."_

_ "We'll be here when you come back Sicarius, don't worry!" Danny stated. "Besides we never even left." Danny touched his heart. "We'll always be with you no matter."_

I understand. I guess it's time for me to go back now?

_"Yes." Danny agreed. "Just do me a favor please. Apologize for me. I truly am sorry for the problems I caused."_

Understood.

_"I love you, Sicarius."_

xxxx

Sicarius's eyes fluttered open. He was lying on the ground outside of the large building. The pain did not subside, but he knew that there only one way he would be happy with himself, so he struggled to his feet and shuffled his way back inside the building. Sicarius's vision was blurry, and his motions were stressed as he shuffled his way to the elevator with the wooden katana held firmly in his right hand. He felt a large piece of glass probing at his back as he punched the floor 27 icon. The elevator took even longer the first time than it did the second and Sicarius felt the life leaving him as he clambered his way through the corridor.

His walk was sluggish and he dragged his feet behind him as he made his way to the room where he had previously fought. When he reentered the room the man with the katana stopped writing and looked up to find Sicarius standing in the doorway.

"You survived a fall like that?" The man asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"I had help," was Sicarius's only answer. Sicarius held up his wooden katana in a neutral stance. The man knew the match was still on, but was somehow, suddenly, more reckless than he was before. Whether the disbelief affected him or not, he charged Sicarius. Sicarius dropped to one knee as he went to block the man's dangerous overhead swing. The man's sword tore through Sicarius's wooden katana as Sicarius leaned forward. This time with two pieces of the wooden katana in hand Sicarius provided a one shot attack that ripped through the man's lower abdomen. Blood spilled onto Sicarius's face as the man's stomach was punctured by the split sword. The man fell onto his knees next to Sicarius.

"Well played, Sicarius. Well played." The man looked at one of the guards. "Victory goes to Sicarius. Thank you."

The man dropped onto his face, his remaining blood spilling out on the floor besides him. The room around Sicarius began to spin, and Sicarius dropped onto the floor, next to the man he had just killed.

Xxxx

_"We are lucky."_

_ "Very."_

_ "Thank God, he was successful."_

_ "You didn't think he could do it?"_

_ "No I did." Masako said. "I just hoped he did it without injuring himself more."_

_ "Oh right. Always like him."_

_ "Yes. Always."_

**END OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**Read and Review please. Thank you ^^**


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